


Carved Oaths

by MagentaCrystal59



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-24 01:07:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8350321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagentaCrystal59/pseuds/MagentaCrystal59
Summary: A story of two in their life in a walled community that lie if fear of the Titans.One: A woman from a Good Samaritan family, developing into a soldier to uncover secrets both outside and within.Another: Endures a life of abnormality until she can follow her big sister; her savior to unravel her own origins together.But in a beautiful cruel world full of poverty, discrimination, love, hate and death, can they live up to the oath they carved into their hearts?





	1. Olivia: Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> After hearing about some nice responses on my one-shot for Chapter 84's Spoilers. I decided to create a fanfic featuring my OC's Olivia Dale and her adopted sister, Gwen Dale and their life in this beautiful cruel world. I will try my best to keep it in route with the manga and at the same time make this story unique.

**_Year 844: Shiganshina, Wall Maria_ **

"Well, I'm off then!" 

An early twenties woman told told her parents as she stood outside, facing the streets of her home in the furthest city within the walls: Shiganshina. With her stuff packed up, finely bound diary in hand and a uniquely crafted carving knife on the side of one of her boots, she was ready to join the military. Normally the permission to join was at minimum half her age, but some unexpected, yet grateful circumstances got in her way. Now the feeling in her gut was telling her that the time is right.

"O-Olivia, sweety. C-Can't you just at least miss this one out?" a middle aged woman told the younger women, who was fearful somewhat.

"Y-Yeah!" An middle aged man added, "y-you know there are other people who want to request your wood carvings. Can't you just at least do one more? The family will pay us well for it."

The younger woman faced the couple apologetically, "I'm sorry, Mother. You too, Father. I made a promise to her long ago...and I can't back down from it. Plus you mentioned this far too late. So, I refuse. After all, she’s my responsibility so I must go out to find the answers."

"Ivi!" a young girl, dressed in a beige dress pushed passed the two adults, who quickly moved out of the way, and ran down to Olivia, "You're going away?! B-But...You said we'll find out my past together!"

"And we will, Gwenie," Olivia reassured, "trust me, this is just a step further for me. And in turn will be yours, too. If I go to the Corps, I'll be able to travel into both the walls to find your family, and outside the walls where no barriers come between us. A feeling of freedom."

"But what about those titans? What if you die out there?" Gwen questioned.

"No fret. I'm not dying that easily if there's something worth fighting for. And you're the one I think of the most," Olivia admitted, taking out two books, "You've still got your baby blanket, right?"

Gwen nodded rapidly and handed over her blanket, with it being a teal colour and possessed star like symbols. Olivia took her carving knife out from her boot and made a clean split down the middle. Tying her half around her book, she gave the other to wrap around Gwen's head like a headband that rested on her forehead.

"I split it in two in order to remember. I also want you to take this and swear down write anything that's happened. I'll write my experience too and we'll compare them together when the time comes. Understand?"

"Yep!" Gwen answered brightly with a smile.

Smiling herself with tearful eyes, Olivia hugged Gwen and her family, whispering a few words to them before turning around to bid farewell for now.

_ Until we meet again, sister.... _


	2. Olivia: Chapter 1 - A Mess In The Mess Hall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to mention that the texts on Olivia's past is from an RP a few friends helped me with to add background to her character. Plus, I was going to include it if I ever did her story in the future. It gets lonely and worrying for me sometimes when I try to take things on alone... I hope you readers all understand and not cause confusion.

**Year 847: Survey Corps ( _3 Years Later)_**

In broad daylight, a small group of fresh cadets from the trainees squad were being escorted to The Survey Corp’s base. The numbers were not big as The Garrison’s, but it wasn’t as limited as the top 10’s like The Military Police either. It had been 2 years since Wall Maria’s breach and word went around fast in populated cities, but the same wasn't the case much in village settlements.

Among the group of new trainees, Olivia walked onwards with her group, while checking out the surroundings. She made it! She made it into the Corps! All that 3DMG and other trainings actually paid off. Hell, she made it into the top 10! She was putting on a determined face, but her eyes were beaming with curiosity. This was gonna be a great entry in her diary!

But...She was at times in her own mind, wondering if her family and Gwen made it. But she had full trust in her family and believed they were helping others and trying to make ends meet back in...Trost. Her childhood home.

"Hey, Dale!" Olivia snapped out of it when she heard her surname and looked towards the group, who turned out to be a little further away her. With a smile and an awkward laugh, she regrouped with her fellow trainees.

"Wow...Look at this place!" Olivia pointed out to her fellow soldiers, "Someday soon we’ll be riding our horses out into the horizon!! Isn't that exciting?!"

Some actually supported the attitude she gave off while others looked at her uneasy.

"Oh come on!" she raised her voice a little with her hands on her hips, with furrowed brows, "Just be glad for the day. None of us here are dying tomorrow! Okay, well maybe some of them, but they wouldn't want our spirits be dampened!"

After getting settled in her dorm and receiving her uniform, Olivia began writing in her diary about her first day at the Corps.

_Honestly, this place is amazing! Vast surroundings, purebred horses that run miles on end...heck even the food here was better than I thought. Commander Erwin's leading the Survey Corps. A respectful man, going out to order the soldiers to fight against evil like a true leader. Of course I don't set off now, but when I adjust I'll-”_

"Hey! Can you keep it down? I can hear you write what you say," a female soldier yelled out. Her hazel hues glaring at her as she began to brush her beige hair.

Olivia realized that she may have been speaking too loud and laughed with a smile, "Sorry, Erna. I've just been dying to write this out."

Erna scoffed in response, "Please, if you really were dying at this point, wouldn't even have the strength to pick up the pen. Is writing down in a flimsy book gonna offer anything?"

By the time Olivia answered, she and Erna were waiting in line for their lunch. The queue wasn’t too big, but they still had more time to talk.

"Of course! Me and my sister, Gwen promised to write our experiences down and then compare them together," Olivia complied, but suddenly developed into a somber state, "but then...it's the first time I left her alone so long...and my parents have enough on their hands already helping out Trost."

A small growl was heard and Olivia got a bit angry, "Argh! I swear, if those dummies ever say a word about her looks, they'll be getting some new looks to their face from me!"

Erna didn’t change her expression but added,"You know, it would be best to stop talking openly about her in your first days. After all, those who dote on them..." her hands made a resemblance to a titan's jaws or a snatching hand, "they don't make it."

"Erna, that's not funny..." Olivia scolded in response.

"I'm just saying, Oli. Your dedication may led you to top 10, but family thoughts outside the wall will be the last thing you'll see before dying," Erna spoke, before walking to her table

Suddenly, Olivia's ears caught wind of a conversation between two men, who was treating a new recruit poorly. Apparently, this boy had two different coloured eyes and was being picked on. This annoyed Olivia to no end, as well as their own disrespectful manners. And he was on the same table to Erna, who seemed disgusted, but gave a look to ignore it, if of course he could. Putting on a scowl, she walked, or rather stomped to her table and placed her meal in between the two boys to separate them.

"Hey! What the hell, bitch?!" one of the men yelled to her face.

"Sorry, but I'm not all for causing disturbance in the mess hall. If you’re done with your dinners, go have your own fun outside." Olivia spoke.

"Hey...Wait a second. That's Olivia Dale! She was in the top ranking soldiers." the other informed.

"Olivia? Oh! That's right!" the other boy yelled out, "Hey, everyone! The Carver of the Dead’s here!"

That's when all eyes from the new cadets, from over divisions to the Corp members with more experience turned to her. They heard rumors on someone carving out figures of the dead, but some never thought it would be someone as optimistic as Olivia. To add onto the spectator’s list, The Squad Leaders like Hange, Captain Levi and even the big browed Commander himself: Erwin Smith.

But Olivia, despite being the centre of attention at this very moment did not break eye contact of the two boys causing inappropriateness to occur.

Say, why did you join up here anyway? Wanna get a good look of dying faces?" the boy jeered, while the other added, "Or are you finding more freaks to wrap around?!"

That along with their laughter went over the edge for Olivia. She raised her legs and kicked them in the stomach one at a time. The result was them both regurgitating their recently eaten meals, and collapsing to their knees, cradling their stomachs in pain for the punch and the vomit. Crouching down, she grabbed them both by the hair and pulled their heads back.

"You lacking backbone dummies...you pick a target just for a freakish appearance? I doubt everyone would be influenced by you with your appalling attitudes and discrimination." she growled out, pulling their heads more further back, "save your insults for the titans. You two better change when a new dawn breaks And brush up on your manners..."she then planted them face first into their spewed up meal, "and that starts after you've feast on your slop like the swine's you are."

With that, she sat down at the table the odd coloured eyed boy and Erna were on to continue eating her meal. Surprisingly, the whole mess hall was almost plunged into silence.

"That was amazing...thank you!" the victim on her table, thanked with all his heart.

"You know...maybe you'll fit in after all," Erna, "Carver of the Dead."

Olivia did her trademark laugh and waved both her hands, "Haha! Let's forget boundaries like titles for now. Olivia's fine."

"I'm Carlin!" the heterochromia boy introduced, both black and brown eye gazing in admiration.

"Nice to meet you!" Olivia responded, pretty soon becoming as if she didn’t have this situation at all.

Hange skipped up, pulling a disgusted Olou behind him.

"I cant be near vomit," he whined, "it'll make me throw up to-" he cut himself off, his face turning green, then ran out of the room.

Hange laughed and then looked down at the two boys. "What's wrong, rookies? Feeling sick 'cause you got what you deserved?"

The two boys could only just groan in response, earning a few bubbles popping from their regurgitated meal.

Hange laughed again and congratulated Olivia, "Good job! Those were some nice hits!"

"Thanks," Olivia responded, approving it as a compliment.

Petra shook her head at the scene in front of her. It simply wouldn't do for soldiers to be so cruel to each other; how then would they build the comradeship required to fight alongside one another and survive a battle. _They have to learn that by the start of their first expedition, or they could be putting themselves in serious danger,_ Petra worried.

She walked over to Olivia with a small smile on her face. "I know they probably deserved it," she said quietly, "but you ought to criticise them via a more subtle approach in future. Some day, anyone in this room might hold your life in their hands, and in that case you'll at least want their support and sympathy.

"Don't let their comments get to you...what's your name?" she asked Olivia curiously.

"They can spew whatever crap they want about me...but not about Gwen..." Olivia gritted out that last part, "besides, men who become too full of themselves require some action before the tongue," remembering Petra asked a question, she turned around to her, looking more like her usual self, "Oh! You asked for my name. I'm Olivia Dale."

"I'm Petra Ral," the woman replied to Olivia, "it's a pleasure to meet you.

"So, Gwen is the person these boys were referencing with their insults...," Petra reasoned with a concerned expression on her face, "is she a close friend?"

"Yeah. They must be from another place who heard about the rumours. They're clearly not from Trost or Shiganshina," Olivia looked down upon the boys, "and...no, Gwen's my sister."

"Ah, I see," Petra said with an empathetic nod, "I can see why that set you off and provoked such a reaction from you then, Olivia. You're one of the new recruits, yes? I haven't seen you before in here."

"Yep! I recently graduated with Daniella and Charlie. Though I didn't get properly acquainted with him up until now," Olivia explained

"And those two boys? They're new too, hmmm?" Petra inquired. _I'd expect a lot better of a veteran,_ she thought darkly, _if they're not new soldiers, I'll be having words with them later._

Gunther and Eld stepped towards the two boys. "So," Eld said to them, "you insult this woman for carving wood and having a friend who you think is a freak, and you attack this boy for having different coloured eyes? Wow, that was totally a good reason to end up in a pool of your own vomit on the ground." The tall Special Ops soldier had only been in the Corps for a year, but his status was well-known enough to give him some moral authority in this situation over the newer soldiers.

"Way to go, guys," Gunther said, "if you're going to get yourself beaten up with insults, at least make them funny and worthwhile. As far as I can see, you bit off more than you could chew for a totally unfunny joke. And yes, I know what's worth getting battered for." _Short jokes are priceless...even if they have painful consequences, I will never regret them,_ Gunther mused.

"Not sure. It's my first time actually," Olivia admitted, watching the scene,"just can't pinpoint on the sudden change..."

"Oi," Eld drawled at the two boys below him, "you look like new soldiers to me. Am I right or are you just weak?"

One of them groaned out a yes in response, still too weak to lift his own head.

"Then you just learnt a lesson," Eld said, "at least you're not guaranteed to be stupid, because that would have been utterly imbecilic coming from a veteran. Don't make that mistake again."

"I doubt they will be the same tomorrow, sir" Erna spoke up, standing by Carlin, "after their humiliation, those two aren't that stupid to keep up their act."

"Clearly not," Eld observed, before walking away with Gunther back to their places to sit down.

After that, they all resumed back to their eating for the day. Daniella also grew impressed albeit admitting she was a little jealous of who Olivia got the attention from. Even Carlin was stunned, making Olivia confused. She was implied to ask about them later after their meal.

* * *

 

Time had passed then and Olivia was the only one in her room at the moment, writing in her diary and speaking what she's written. Yet for some reason Erna stayed quiet for once, observing the carvings of wood her roommate created.

_So, after some training they returned to the base. With casualties and deaths. They were pretty low though, but that didn't mean there weren't some bodies that were eaten...shame I couldn't carve them out to give to grieving families while I was in the Training Squad. At the mess hall today I saw two boys targeting this kid, Carlin Schneider for his appearance. Gwen would've gotten along with him if she we're here; he doesn't look like her, but he does have two different coloured eyes. Erna Everton, my roommate just signalled him to ignore them...but for some reason I couldn't. I ended up kicking the two in their stomachs and face planting them into their regurgitated food. It's stupid for what they've done, but I'm still hoping they'll change tomorrow. It also caught the attention of a group of soldiers, though I was confused to why everyone was surprised…_

That was when a knock on the door was heard, making Olivia halt her writing and Erna to avert her gaze on the carving. Walking towards the door, Olivia turned the handle to peek outside and realizing the familiar black and brown eyes, she widened the gap.

"Carlin! What are you doing here?" Olivia greeted with a smile.

"Hey, I was just wanting to thank you more personally. Those guys we're driving me nuts for a while!" Charlie answered.

"Keep it down!" Daniella hissed in warning, "you'll get into trouble if you stay out here too long. Odd...you don't back off from morons, yet you have guts to sneak out here."

"Oh, don't be so harsh, Ern! What's wrong with coming here just a little bit?" Olivia questioned.

"I'm not bothered about who's at the door...But do you really have to make the floor look like a barn with all these shavings?!" Erna complained, kicking a few around.

When it came to doing her carving, Olivia tends to do so in her own room. So it was only natural it carried out to the dorms. Erna became unfortunate sharing a room with her, as she’d have to be the one walking through all the smoothly cut shavings. Thank the Walls Olivia gave her the top bunk.

"Hey, it's a win-win for me and the stables," Olivia pointed out, "just let me finish my diary entry. I'm up to the part where I met those soldiers in the mess hall. If only I knew who the others, apart from Petra were and-"

"Wait. Petra Ral?" Carlin interrupted, "I know who you we're referring to! Let me in. I won't be long. I promise."

 _Promise_ Olivia thought on that last word, before smiling and ushered him forward to the door and closing it.

* * *

 

"Squad Levi..." Olivia muttered, repeating what Charlie just said.

He nodded."Yeah! They're a group of some of the best soldiers in the Corps. They're handpicked and lead by Levi, who is known as Humanity's Strongest Soldier by the people. And practically the Commander's right hand man!"

"Not to mention Hange Zoe, that cheery woman in glasses is a Squad Leader herself," Erna added.

"So, she's the scientist that studies titans?" Olivia assumed, turning over to her.

"You say study. I say fawn." she answered, "mainly one of the few reasons I wasn't into your carefree reaction. People think she's crazy, but go too far on that subject and you'll become an experiment."

"Well, I don't honestly want a change a person extremely like the Titans have done to us, but I respect her curiosity to understand the unknown. And for "Humanity's Strongest Soldier" while it speaks for itself about his skill, it sounds to me people think he's invincible. But...no matter what, it doesn't change the fact that he's human."

Erna and Carlin gaped a little at her speech, before Olivia decided to change the subject.

"So...uh, what were your lives like before joining here?" she asked the two.

"Well...I lived in a village on the north of Wall Maria," Carlin recalled, "My parents ran a local tailoring shop, mending clothes and such. I was mainly around to take measurements, while my father made the orders and my mother did the sewing. It was a pretty decent life...though, I guess jealousy was what got them to notice my eye difference. Since then I was viewed differently and offered more of my free time to the family business. But not being a first born cannot give you a desired occupation, but it also provides freedom to do your own thing; being known for your own strength. And I have a feeling the Corps will prove it."

"So...your only goal is to be strong by going up against titans? That's pathetic," Erna summed up, "I mean, you have the courage somewhat all settled out...You're not spoiled like the MPs being dogs to the pigs, and you're clearly not staying on the side-lines like the Garrisons. But there's no denying it'll be your first time outside the walls. I guess this is the line to see if your fate’s from the chomp..."

Surprisingly, Carlin just laughed the last bit, finding it quite cute, "You're funny, Erna. Is that why you joined the Corps? To be humorous?"

Erna, while still surprised had a hint of redness in her cheeks before shaking her head in denial, "N-No! Of course not! That humour died long ago with my parents!"

And just like a clean cut, the room lost it's lighting feeling to it when Erna confessed.

"Ouch...I uh...I'm sorry to hear that," Carlin apologized.

"No-one to blame...but them..." Erna responded sombrely, referring them as the Titans.

However, Carlin wasn't so certain.

"And yourself," he finished, continuing after Erna gasped, "your parents must've loved you very much so. If you were funny, then you made them happy. You hold blame for their deaths because of whatever situation they were in, you wanted a chance for them to escape, even if you didn't make it. Those deaths caused you to want revenge, but you didn't want to think about them even make people speak about them in case they didn't make it."

"That's why you were so annoyed of me talking about Gwen," Olivia remembered, "you didn't want it to be repeated."

"It doesn't matter anyway on goals," Erna replied, "those who join the Corps to achieve them must face their targets, which are the titans. Everyone's goal here is freedom from the titans...nothing more."

Silence once again passed between the two, before Olivia got up from her bed and walked over to her end table, "Actually, it doesn't have to be just that. The Corps also get summoned to the inner walls as well. Carlin , you joined to prove your worth. Erna, you joined to avenge the fallen. Me? I joined to keep a promise I made long ago..."she then picked up the cloth she kept around her diary and sat back on the bed, "Carli, your family work as tailors as you mentioned, does this look familiar?"

Carlin inspected the cloth as well as the symbol, while doing so, he noticed how silky the material was, as if his fingers we're gliding over it.

"No, I'm not familiar with this symbol, "he answers, "yet this fabric is smoother than anything...something people of Wall Sina would probably have."

Olivia was beyond surprised when Charlie said this, her current mood suddenly changed instantly, "So you're saying...she was abandoned by the rich...?" now she was pissed, "THOSE STUCK UP SWINE! HOW DARE THEY THROW AWAY LIFE'S GREATEST MIRACLE! THEY BETTER HAVE A BETTER EXCUSE OTHER THAN SEEING HER EVIL!"

A split second after that outburst, Eld opened the door to Olivia's room with a frown on his face. He was squinting forward, trying to work out who had just shouted and why. "Is something the matter?" he asked, concern and annoyance mixing in his voice.

Olivia, Erna and Carlin gasped standing up from the bed and turned to face him, "No, sir!" they chorused, with straight backs and a sturdy posture.

"Good," Eld said, "because some of our soldiers are trying to get some early shut-eye before tomorrow's expedition. Now, that's a personal choice, I know, but one you guys should respect, so keep it down in here, alright?"

Right!" the three soldiers chimed, Olivia clutching tight the cloth in her hand behind her back.

Eld made to exit the room, stepping back from the entrance before a thoughtful look flashed across his features. "Guys, if you do have a problem about something...anything...I'm all ears. It's best to get rid of all your anxieties now, before your first expedition tomorrow..." He chuckled, "Because trust me, you'll have plenty of things to worry about at that time."

The trio nodded, "We'll keep that in mind, sir!"

"Very well, then...good evening, soldiers," Eld said, making a movement to close the door before remembering that he still had something to say. "Oh, and by the way, for future reference my name's Eld Jinn. What are yours?"

One at a time, the three look at each other and said their names one at a time.

"Olivia Dale."

"Erna Everton."

"Carlin Schneider."

After Eld shut the door, the three soldiers breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close. Olivia, keep your voice down next time," Erna, reminded.

"Sorry. Sorry," she apologized.

"At least it wasn't anyone else, they would've scolded at me if they found me here," Carlin sighed.

"And you didn't hide?" Erna questioned.

"For what? Getting you and the one who dealt with them into trouble? No way!" Carlin shook his head, "you said I have courage, so why must I make that untrue? I would've faced the consequences with full honesty."

"Well, looks like we've got a lot on us tomorrow. Let's all survive together and see where this'll take us." Olivia suggested.

Carlin and Erna looked at Olivia without any doubts, actually liking the proposition.

"You've already got my support!" Carlin approved.

Erna rolled her eyes a little, but had a grin coming up, "If it's with a bunch of piped up weirdos, I'd join the ride."

And with that they sealed the deal piling their right clenched hands on top of each other, signalling a new bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot longer than before! I hope I did okay at least with Erna and Carlin...I think I made them a little bit bland.  
> I might edit Olivia's chapters before Shiganshina fell in the future, so they are more detailed, but for now, let me know what you all think! :)


	3. Olivia: Chapter 2 - Beyond the Walls

There they were: the Survey Corps, in their long-range scouting formation, prepared to secure another town and recapture it from the titans, on the route from Wall Rose to Wall Maria. The gates of Trost were poised to open, and Commander Erwin rode at the front of the formation, the Special Operations squad located behind him. On the right flank was Dita's squad, on the left flank was Mike's, and at the rear was Hange's.

Eld glanced around him, wondering how the two boys he'd criticised yesterday were faring, whilst Petra's eyes searched for Olivia, Charlie and Daniella, to see if they were alright. The 29th expedition beyond the walls was about to begin. "Another day, another expedition," Nanaba said quietly.

Mike frowned, clearly troubled. "Yes, but there are new soldiers on the frontline today. That means higher casualties than usual, Nanaba."

"We'll have to be careful, for their sake," Nanaba replied with a nod, "I hope Erwin isn't attempting anything too ambitious on this mission...the new soldiers should learn what it's like to experience titans firsthand before being thrown in the deep end of the Survey Corps expeditions...

"...in my opinion, anyway," she said, looking down at the ground guiltily, "not that it's my place to question the Commander's judgement."

"I have brought this up with him," Mike said, "the town shouldn't be too hard to recapture for a time. The danger is apparently that it's the perfect environment for an abnormal, so we'd better hope we don't see too many of those out there today."

Nanaba smiled grimly and chuckled, "I don't want to see many of those unpredictable monsters at all, actually."

"We're in the same boat," Mike muttered under his breath.

It was the day of Olivia's first expedition outside the walls. After their breakfast in the mess hall, which luckily had no disturbances in case she repeated the process to anyone along with a few training to keep the energy going, herself, Erna and Carlin went to the stables to choose their own horse to ride into battle. Olivia picked a palomino coloured mare, whom she decided to call Hilda. Daniella had chosen a blue roan coloured one and Charlie selected an appaloosa black and white stallion. They were all lined up together in one of the areas, not too close to the front but a little far back from the Squads.

The gate leading out of Trost rose slowly, pulled up by its chains. Sunlight flooded in through the opening, splintering the long shadow Wall Rose had cast over the Survey Corps troops. For the new soldiers, this might signal the beginning of an exciting journey into the unknown; for the veterans, it meant that once again they would be running full pelt towards the jaws of death itself.

"Let the 29th expedition beyond the walls begin!" Erwin boomed, spurring his horse on as he did so. As he set off into the outside world, his soldiers following behind him, Erwin knew there would be many casualties today.

"Alright, let's do this!" Olivia encouraged to Erna and Carlin as they sped off into the outside world together with the other soldiers.

 

The moment they were out, the three felt something entirely different, no boundaries, no laws apart from orders who were fighting the same cause. The winds on their faces as their horses galloped. Yes...this is freedom. Leaving Trost, the Survey Corps progressed into another urban settlement, this one abandoned when Wall Maria fell. The escorting team that ensured the formation's progress through this urban area was smooth fired three green flares, indicating that they had spotted no titans in their vicinity.

"All clear," Erwin said, "that's excellent." Then, he shouted, "Full speed ahead!" The formation's progress increased in pace as the Survey Corps began to reach the edge of the deserted town. After they'd departed from this place, they would have truly left civilisation behind them.

Looks like everything's clear for now..." Charlie pointed out as he noticed the green flares shoot out.

"Which means we have more time to enjoy the riding!" Olivia piped up as they rode out.

"Well, _you_ can enjoy it, but I wish there was a titan. Not that I desire it, but I don't want to stay on horseback doing nothing." Daniella replied, somewhat beginning to get a little bored.

Having left the town, they headed for the location Erwin intended to go to, but soon encountered titans. "Two titans up ahead!" a soldier scouting ahead at the front of formation shouted.  
This was standard; Erwin knew that. _Why not give the new bloods a demonstration?_ he thought, _we'll show them how it's done._ "Squad Dita, handle them," he barked.  
Dita's squad moved forward with their captain, riding towards the oncoming titans.

"Hey look!" Olivia exclaimed to Erna, "you don't have to act so glum. Two titans are up ahead! Let's watch. We can learn something from them."

Erna rolled her eyes, "we already learned that titan killing crap in training," she reminded.

But Carlin countered that, "True. But they don't compare to the real deal."

Squad Dita broke off from the formation, engaging the attention of the two titans quickly. They split into two groups of three, each luring an individual titan into a location without many humans in it. In each of these groups, one soldier stayed just ahead of the titan to engage its attention, causing it to swipe out at this person, who played the role of the bait. The roles of the other two soldiers in each group would soon become clear.

"So...basically put the weakest at danger while the strongest attack?" Erna assumes.

"No, I think the one in bait is smart." Carlin countered.

That however caused the two to get into a one word argument, until Olivia intervened.

"Okaay, that's enough!" Olivia got between their faces, "but don't miss out on what they're doing next!"

As the titans lunged at the bait - soldiers who were used to their risky job by now, and who could avoid their pursuers for some time - one soldier in each group moved forward to shear off the tendons supporting the legs of each titan. As they hacked at the first set of tendons, they drew the titans' attention, and so had to evade while the bait moved in to go for the second set. With the titans' attention split by between two groups of soldiers - the bait and the first soldier to attack their tendons in each group - they were totally unprepared for the strikes to their napes delivered by the remaining two unoccupied soldiers.  
With their work completed in under a minute, Squad Dita remounted their horses and congratulated each other on a job well done, before returning to formation, which duly resumed its progress across the terrain.

"Amazing..." Erna muttered, looking back at them along with the titan's smouldering bodies.

"See Erna? Nothing like the real deal," Carlin smirked, which somehow in torn caused the latter to blush a bit.

Olivia was confused, but at the same time she felt a little saddened. This was one thing she couldn't seem to unravel and even though humanity is near extinction it felt so common.

 

"We're more than halfway there, now" a scout at the edges of formation barked after a while, "but we've got company."  
Three titans were approaching the formation: two from the left flank and one from the right. The one from the right was heading straight towards the positions of Erna, Charlie, and Olivia.

The three greenhorns at the time were just galloping, until Olivia suddenly felt as if a cloud was over her, but it was a pretty decent clear sky...wait.  
Turning around, she let out a gasp, which in turn alerted Charlie and Daniella, to see a titan...a 10 metre one right on their tail.

"What do we do?!" Carlin exclaimed, "First expedition and we've already become a target to one of them!"

"The only thing we can do; keep riding!" Erna yelled, "let the veterans take care of them!"

"I thought you said you didn't want to be idle on horseback," Olivia reminded, referring to her comment before leaving the civil area.

"Second thinking!" Erna simply stated and continued making her horse gallop.

Dita's squad again moved to engage the titan, as it was on their flank. However, its attention was fixed on Carlin, Erna and Olivia for the time being, and attempts to distract it by Squad Dita fell flat. They'd have to engage it in a densely populated area, where their abilities were less useful. Moreover, this particular place had flat environs, making it a terrible environment for 3DMG use. Even with six soldiers against one titan, this fight was not going to be easy.

On the left flank, things were thankfully in a better state. Squad Mike had moved to engage the titans, and there were a few hamlets they could use as points to manoeuvre around.

"It's no good! That titan's still following us!" Olivia spoke up.

"Well, how are we going to get it to stop?!" Carlin wondered out loud, courage trying to stay firm.

Olivia thought for a moment and looked back at the titan. She could see it's eyes were still on them, but his hands seem to be using it to move rather than grab.

"Carli, how close are it's eyes from our view?" Olivia questioned, probably having an idea.

"A few feet away. Why what are you planning?!"

Olivia didn't explain, but turned to Erna, then him, "Get your blades ready! Both of you!"

"What?!" they exclaimed, "You're crazy!"

"But it's a chance. Since I'm in the middle, I head straight. When I say split, go the direction away from me."

Squad Mike moved into action. The toughened veterans of one year in this squad knew how it was done, slashing at the titans' legs so quickly they had no time to react. As they toppled to the ground, reaching for those who had attacked them, their assault was stopped short by twin blows to their napes delivered by Mike and Nanaba.

"Damnit!" Luke cursed, "how are we going to catch up with it while it's going for the new soldiers!"

"We'll just have to reach it before it can eat any of them," Captain Dita replied, "we won't get there in time to stop it from launching a few attacks, however. The squad spurred their horses on towards the beast, anxious to apprehend it before it could kill the new soldiers.

As they were gaining on them, the entire squad's eyes widened at what one of the cadets targeted by the titans was trying to do.  
Olivia was then slowly began to attempt to stand up from her horse. Safe to say those who were watching was thinking she was crazy. She was already on all fours as she wobbled a little bit, realizing it was going to be more difficult than expected.

"Shit..." Samuel swore as the Titan put more distance between itself and Dita's squad. "It looks like the new soldiers are trying to engage the Titans, sir!" he informed his captain.

"As they should," Dita replied, "they'll give us the opening we need..."

Olivia, then slowly moved her front upwards to find her balance, which she quickly did. Having two blades at her hands she swung them towards the titans eyes. A PERFECT HIT. The titan was now blind but it lost it's own balance when it went to cover it's eyes as it roared in pain. Now it's descending down towards them.

Erna appeared tense, asking Olivia to hurry and speak Charlie was almost as bad, but Olivia stayed firm with a stern expression in her titan blood tinted face as it fell forward.

"Split!" she commanded.

Erna and Carlin wasted no time doing so, steering their horses in the opposite direction from Olivia.  
The moment the titan face planted the ground, Charlie had swiped the tendons in it's legs, while Daniella slashed at the shoulders, making it limp. Finally, Olivia finished it off by severing the nape. Now the titan was no more.

Dita's squad caught up with the three new soldiers, a mix of disappointment at not having the opportunity to kill the Titan and admiration on their faces. "Congratulations, soldiers," Dita said with a salute, "between the three of you, that was your first Titan kill. Now, we rejoin the formation and set off again."

"Yes, Sir!" The three soldiers gave their salute and climbed back on their horses, re-joining the formation as Squad Dita duly began to manoeuvre to link up with the formation once more at its captain's behest. They were quite pleased with their first ever kill.

"So...how was it?" Olivia asked, with a smirk.

"You're so damn lucky it worked, Oli! You could've killed Carli!" Erna all but yelled at her face, but then suddenly went calm and changed her current mood, "It was... worth the blow. I'll give you that."

"Yeah, it definitely does get intense," Carlin added, "I didn't think you could pull this off, Oli. You could be a leader someday."

"Me? Nah, I'm not fit to lead," Olivia denied, "Besides, we've still got a long way to go..."

* * *

 

"The town's up ahead," a scout shouted, "it's within human sight."

"Prepare to enter," Erwin ordered, "remember your training and get ready to cache supplies and fortify defences. The establishment of this town as a Survey Corps base will be a milestone in our campaign to retake Wall Maria."

"I wonder if the town's still the same..." Carlin wondered, as he rode.

Erna shook her head, "I doubt that. For how dumb these guys are, they probably knocked a house or two."

As the town came into everyone's view, a scout rode into its outskirts, raising a single sword into the air and yelling, "For humanity!" Hundreds of voices repeated the cry behind him as they thundered into the place on horseback, ready for combat and an attempt to complete their operation here.

And thus, the operation to retake the town began.  
"For humanity!" the trio shouted along with the soldiers, their horses galloping into the deserted town. Well, hopefully deserted, but that might not be the case.

 _Four bases to secure and then cache supplies in,_ Erwin thought to himself, _while our squads ensure that happens by protecting the wagon teams, all most of the troops need to do is encircle and control the town for a while._

The Survey Corps entered via the north district of the town, storming into it with swords in hand, ready to establish another base for humanity beyond the walls. The four squads pulled back to protect the wagons at the rear of the formation, while most of the normal troops, including the newer soldiers, were sent forward to face any titans that were in the path of the supply teams.

"Looks like we're going to have to clear the path for them," Erna assumed.

"What?! On our first day?!" Carlin exclaimed.

Daniella hummed, "Don't tell me your already tired from taking out the tendons, Carlin. No wonder you lack the strength."

"T-That's not it at all!" the heterochromia ginger denied.

"Hey, now!" Olivia interrupted, "I don't think arguing's going to kill these titans apart from our bonds."

The lighter brown haired girl quirked a brow, "Bonds?"

"We made a promise last night, and we took out a titan together," the olive eyed women reminded, "have no doubts; we can do this!"

"Troops, forward!" Erwin ordered as they rushed to engage the titans. There were several titans ahead of them, but this town, with its tall buildings and urban (instead of open) spaces, was a good environment in which to use 3DMG, and thankfully none of them seemed to be aberrants. As the troops moved forward, the squads moved back, and each of them - Squad Dita, Squad Mike, Squad Hange and Squad Levi - coalesced around a group of wagons bearing vital supplies for a mission to retake Wall Maria planned for the future.

"There are those genital lacking fucktards..." Erna growled, eying each and every titan that came to her vision.

Carlin stared at her in surprise in shock at Everton's mouth. Revenge must still be present in her view.

"Wow...what colourful language!" Olivia laughed at Erna.

"Yeah, more than Captain Levi..." Carlin blurted out.

Olivia was surprised to hear that Carlin admitted that and had a grin form, "Whohohoa! You might need to restrain your vocals unless your planning a competition, Dani!"

 

It was then that an eight-metre titan, having broken through the formation, lunged for Olivia, a strangely content smile on its massive face.

"Olivia, look out!" Carlin alarmed, as the titan lunged out towards Olivia.

Olivia, turning back, was stunned to see a titan pounce towards her, but Hilda was fact to react and made a big leap to escape the jaws. Getting out of her trance, Olivia embraced thee horses neck tightly, "Thank you, Hilda! You'll be my humble companion for the rest of my life!" which the horse had no complaints about. Either from it's upbringing, or something else.

"Can we focus on killing this, now?!" Erna yelled, looking back at the titan, "It's still crawling like mad!"

"Maybe we should use or gear now," Carlin suggested, "we're in an urban place."

Olivia approved, "Great idea, Carli! Hilda, you take care of the others."

Knowing others meant her fellow horses, the mare moved her own head in a nod and the trio switched to their 3DMG.

Not to be deterred by the whizz of the gear and the movement of its wires, the Titan threw itself at Olivia again with an outstretched palm, the stupid grin still fixed onto its face. Noticing the incoming palm, Olivia dodged the palm with a swift move to the side, _Well, one thing's clear, I'm it's target..._

"Nice try!" Olivia taunted before shouting to Carlin and Erna, "One of you has to take out the nape!"

"I'll do it!" Carlin decided, but Erna argued with him.

"No way! I've got this one!"

 _Seriously?! They fight like my tensed_ _parents!_ Olivia thought with a deadpanned expression, seeing the two of her friends fight over who wants to kill it.

 

Distracted from the banter, the trio didn't see the Titan swung its previously unused left arm around from behind it in a sweeping motion. Olivia only just saw the other unused arm swing towards the two and made the decision to push them out of the way to see another day. However, it earned them all a big swat, making them fall and tumble out of the sky and into the roof, before bouncing and skidding onto the pavement floor.


	4. Olivia: Chapter 3 - Horror of Humanity's Foe

Olivia wasn't sure how long she blacked out from the impact of the fall, but considering she came through to see the face of the earth it wasn't too long. Whatever pain she had wasn't registered as she lifted herself so that she sat up on the ground. Looking around, she caught the familiar faces of Erna and Carlin and moved herself over to them to see if they were alive. Thankfully, the other regained consciousness just like her.

A few nearby cadets saw what happened and instantly went to offer their support. However it was all proven futile as they suffered in their ends by the titan's mercy. The trio was just gaining their senses when the bloody massacre before them brought them quicker to reality. Eyes dilating at the bodies.

 _It really doesn't compare to training...those dummies never killed us..._ Carlin thought.

 _I was told to never look, but what the hell am I still doing?!_ Erna exclaimed in her mind.

 _Is this the reality of the biggest death toll of mankind...? I never thought they'd be this difficult. Gwen..._ Olivia's thinking echoed in her brain.

She began to have crystal clear memories of her little sister. Her snowy white hair...those vibrant ruby eyes... and her cute baby face she still had ever since she found her wrapped up in her blanket, almost camouflaged by the snow.

The titan that first swatted the tree from the air rose from its latest meal, a severed arm falling from its blood-spattered mouth. Looking around for more food in an attempt to sate its unquenchable thirst, it lumbered forwards, its back hunched, towards Carlin.

"Carlin! Get out of the way! It's coming towards you!" Olivia yelled out to him.

Erna, noticing Carlin was in immediate danger, used her 3DMG to grab him out of the way. Showing no mercy, she made a swipe at the eyes, which in turn appeared to knock some of the titan's teeth out, before flipping over to cut the nape.

 _This is why you should never cross my path again, bastard..._ She thought grimly an the titan fell over and started to decompose in smoke.

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief, wiping her leaking brow, not caring less on the red smudge it made and joining back with them.

"Next time: Don't fight," she lectured, sternly.

Feeling a little guilty they nodded, before facing the rest of the titans together with the other cadets.

Meanwhile, Erwin turned his horse around to assess the situation behind him. The heavy fighting in the northern district seemed to be diminishing as soldiers broke through titan lines and reduced their numbers. There were a few exceptions to this rule, such as the titan attacking Olivia, Carlin and Erna, but the main Survey Corps force was moving into the centre, west and east districts of the city now, whilst Squad Hange and the group of wagons it was protecting was progressing towards and into a large, fortified building in the north district, prepared to find a few three to four-metre class titans within it.

 _Thankfully, we've seen no aberrants yet,_ Erwin thought to himself.

Focusing on the three, he also saw the progress of how the titan was slain and was certain these three were the one Mike and Dita were talking about. Noticing that the titan was dispatched, Erwin nodded in recognition of the three trainees' success at them, and turned around once more to face the battle ahead of him, riding into the congested city centre where victory or death awaited him.

Erna and Carlin didn't notice the nod their Commander gave out, but Olivia noticed the look as she flew by on her gear. She nodded with a smile in return as she went over to view Charlie already focusing on a 5 metre titan who, luckily for the cadets place in the air, can't reach them.

At the same time, Squad Hange emerged from the building victorious, a series of empty wagons rolling out behind them.

"Great shot, Carlin!" Olivia praised, congratulating him for fining off the 5 metre.

The heterochromia only had time to smile before him, her and Erna heard the Commander sending out an alarm.

Meanwhile, in the eastern district, Squad Dita was pressing ahead with a group of soldiers towards the town hall, another building to be fortified. Progress was being made smoothly, and the same could be said of the western district, where Squad Mike were pushing towards a military compound. In the centre of the city, where Squads Hange and Levi were now situated, something terribly wrong was about to occur.

"Aberrant!" Erwin had time to warn, before a ten-metre class bounding along on all fours smashed through a line of soldiers, running around the city without stopping to eat any soldiers but crushing plenty underfoot and showing no signs of stopping.

"Now _that's_ definitely a problem...!" Olivia responded.

"So? Let's stop this problem!" Daniella yelled, going towards it.

"Erni! Wait for us!" Charlie yelled as he and Olivia followed her.

The aberrant thundered forward towards Daniella's position. Erwin, noticing the three new soldiers' plight, turned around and chased after it, engaging the use of his 3DMG as he did so.

"We can't let it take out anymore soldiers like the rest!" Erna yelled, planning on taking out the knees.

Carlin targeted the shoulders so it could not tread through using it's hands.

Olivia pinpointed the titan's front, intending to take out the eyes, however the titan's move would soon send her alone literally sky high.

Erwin latched onto another building, using extra gas to increase his speed so that he would close the gap between himself and the aberrant. Meanwhile, the titan bounded forward once again, oblivious to the new soldiers' attacks.

Unless they moved their bodies out of the way, Olivia, Carlin and Erna would have to deal with the impact of being hit full on by the running titan's massive body, which would probably have fatal consequences.

With a swift swipe, Erna took out the titan's legs, making it unable to use them. But the speed was still incredibly quick. It could probably grab more soldiers in it's wake. But Carlin was able to sever the arms in order to stop it from grabbing others. Then came Olivia, planning to blind the beast with her blades. But there was an echoing voice in her mind calling her... _Ivi_. This distract caused Olivia to get bashed and launched high in the air.

"OLIVIA!" Carlin and Erna screamed, motionless out of horror as she was hurdled up into the sky. They couldn't risk using their gear at the moment because the air had nothing to latch the grapples on.

The victims eyes had begun to get heavier from possibly the concussion, or feeling somewhat at peace, but instead of to the clouds, her eyes gazed down at the soldiers fighting...and those who looked above to see her soar once her name echoed through.

Was this it? This can't be. She promised she'd return to her comrades, to her sister, to everyone so she herself can be free.

As she flew she felt something emerge...something that her graceful glide seemed to work along side with. Battling her consciousness, she activated her grappling hook from behind as she descended. She became one with the air that she didn't waste too much gas to return to her position. Erna and Carlin gaped in surprise as they observed their once thought doomed comrade aim towards the nape backwards before engaging a vertical spin with full force onto the nape with a loud battle cry, eyes full of fierce determination. The titan crashed into a building, causing it to be decimated as a mixture of smoke and steam rose above the town.

The two wasted no time heading towards the scene, eyes squinting from the smoke.

"Oli!" Erna yelled, cupping her hands together to make her voice clear.

"Careful, Erni!" Carlin warned, "you'll breathe in too much smoke."

Before Erna could say anything, Commander Erwin landed near the soldiers, and said, "Exceptional kill record. Three titan kills in one mission. Well done, troops. Now we advance."

Erna and Carlin however were reluctant to advance. Olivia was last seen near the wreckage, probably unconscious. She's done for if they leave her.

"Where is the third of you?" Erwin asked, squinting at Erna and Carlin. "Has there been a casualty here?"

"Sir! Olivia Dale was knocked out by the titan!" Carlin explained.

"Yet came backwards like a rod reeling a line to kill it!" Erna added, not caring if it did sound nonsense, but was the truth.

A groan was heard along with a thud and they turned towards the figure emerging from the clearing smoke while holding her head as if she was recovering from a hangover. A dusty and gashed female cadet walked towards them and did her firm salute.

"No...not this time, sir," Olivia replied, "I'm not slacking off on the first day."

Erwin had remained neutral, but he could feel a small smile forming. Something he had felt since finding Levi in the Underground some years ago. But it didn't stay for long.

"As I said before, soldiers," Erwin repeated, "exceptional kill record. Now, back to the formation! There'll be time for celebrations later."

"Yes, sir!" they all chorused, before Olivia whistled for their horses and as the loyal companions they were, answered their owners call and they set off back to the formation.

There rarely were any celebrations because of the high number of casualties sustained on most missions, but Erwin did not want to force the new soldiers to swallow this bitter pill at the moment. He turned on his heel and jogged back towards where he'd left his horse, ready to continue the fight for the city's centre.

* * *

Regrouping with the main body of soldiers in the centre of the city, Erwin noticed that Squads Dita and Mike were now entering the fortified buildings in their districts, their missions there close to accomplished. The titans were beginning to thin out now in this part of the city, with the only piece of territory completely held by the monsters now in its northern district, towards which soldiers were forging ahead.

He wondered about how the three new soldiers were faring, but he couldn't afford to go back for them. They'd pull through, he decided. Now that there were no Titans to fight in their area and all three of them seemed to be in a stable condition, they wouldn't be in much danger.

"Hey look! The northern District's the only place left to occupy! Let's go!" Olivia shouted.

"But...Olivia! You're hurt!" Carlin reminded, looking at the state she was in, "you're in no shape to carry on!"

"You just got whacked full force by an abnormal! And you still want to fight?!" Erna exclaimed.

"So are you two going to sit on your asses and wait this out with me?" Olivia assumed, "Hell no! We're soldiers and this is what we must do!" Erna and Carlin still stared at her reluctantly, "Yes. I'm still holding onto our promise to survive together, but remaining here on horseback while we've still got more energy in us isn't surviving! It's _just_ not dying!" Erna and Carlin gasped, "If you don't take a stand in this world, you'll never get anywhere. Your goals and dreams will be unattainable! If killing these titans are included on the path, then I'll take every force necessary!"

Suddenly influenced by her speech, Erna and Carlin, even the cadets in her area cheered her for the speech. Making them more determined to fight.

_**Carlin:** I will not let things go aside! It's time to take things by my own hands! _

**_Erna:_ ** _Those gluttony slobs aren't walking away freely! I'll butcher every last one for my parents!_

Squad Levi finished off the last of the titans in the central district, and Erwin duly led the advance into the northern district. So far, so good - few aberrants and little carnage. If more were to arrive, however, there was bound to be chaos. Yet still...With what was occurring, Olivia looked back at all the cheering rookie cadets in awe that they actually supported that. Even those two boys who picked on Carlin in the mess hall. Full of confidence, she readied a new set of blades, confidence boosting to a maximum.

_I won't rest...until I achieve my sister's wish!_


	5. Olivia: Chapter 4 - The Fight Must Go On!

With all four squads descending on the northern district as well as the main force, progress was made smoothly. However, several 14 and 15-metre classes lumbered around, eating as many soldiers as they could. The formidable titans seemed to be carving up many of the Survey Corps' troops, which could cause the organisation's efforts significant problems if they were left unchallenged.

"Wow...they are definitely bigger than the others..." Carlin notified.

"We're gonna have to attack them in groups in order to bring them down." Olivia stated a she kept an eye on the titans.

Erna then spotted the Squads in the distance, "Looks like the squads are available, too. Now things don't have to get too gory...hopefully."

One 14 and one 15 metre class approached Olivia, Carlin and Erna. They were situated in the middle of a road, from either side of which one of the two titans was encroaching on their area. Olivia set her eyes on the 15 metre one, and headed towards it with Carlin and Erna. Her speech still remaining strong most of the new cadets who were by her chose to take on the 14 metre titan. They sliced the legs to halt it running, but few got squished underneath because they couldn't get away in time. Though saddened a little, Olivia knew it would be easier to handle because a down titan's a dead titan. Advancing towards the 15 meter, they both encountered a familiar squad; the same one that they met at the mess hall.

Recognising Petra and Eld, they knew this was Squad Levi.

"Stay back and handle the 14 metre-class," Gunther encouraged Olivia, Erna and Carlin, "I appreciate what you've done for the cause so far, but we can handle this one."

Eld and Petra ran along the rooftop beside him, watching to see what the three new soldiers would do.

"No way! We're not falling back now! I wanna kill this glutton piece of shit," Erna denied as she advanced towards the titan with Carlin close behind her and Olivia up front.

"Charlie, your turn to blind it!" Olivia shouted at him.

"Right!" Carlin yelled as he readied his blades.

"Erna, you take the shoulders!"

Erna approved, "With pleasure! I wanted to slash them the moment they squished them!"

"Soldiers," Eld barked at the three of them, "you can get back to the 14 metre class and kill it before its legs heal, or you can make this more complicated than it needs to be by going after a Titan we've already got covered. Choose now."

Olivia looked back at the 14 meter, who appeared to be close to turning the tables.

"...Erna! Carlin! Get back to the 14 meter!" Olivia called out to them.

"WHAT?!" they exclaimed.

"You heard! Deal with the titan behind you!" Olivia looked back at the 14th, legs close to being full again, "They're having trouble back there!"

"Screw that! I just said I'm not turning back!" Erna yelled.

"So you'll just stick to your target in front of you and let others face the same fate as your parents?!"

Erna gasped at what her friend just said and turned back to the 14 meter, who was starting to attack the other cadets.

Eld strongly resisted the urge to face palm. Now the three new soldiers had split up, leaving just two against a recovering 14-metre class. He sighed and continued towards the 15-metre class, occasionally glancing back at the other titan before his captain nodded at him. This was Levi's silent way of telling him to follow his worries and go after it.

Doing an about face, Eld followed Erna and Carlin, soon catching up with them. Meanwhile, Levi pulled ahead of the rest of his squad, the group of soldiers intending to lure the Titan to them so that he could get a clean strike at its neck easily.

"Olivia's right, Erna," Carlin supported, but then turned to Olivia, "But What are you gonna...No. No, It's too dangerous!"

The look in her eyes we're obvious she was going to do it...

"How hard can it be?! I did it once, I can do it again!" Olivia shouted back, "Carli, I'll be fine! Just you and Erna help them out! But it's up to you how you wanna do this."

With reluctance, Carlin and Erna fell back to face the 14 metre while Olivia continued forward.

As Levi engaged the use of his 3DMG to pull past the titan, Petra and Gunther walked towards it, almost inviting the thing to attack. As soon as it did so, however, one of them moved to the right, and the other to the left, leaving the titan's attention split between two different people, neither of whom intended to deliver the finishing blow.

Eld said to Carlin and Erna, "This shouldn't be too hard, so long as its legs don't regenerate before we get there."

"It's not the titan I'm concerned about, sir," Carlin complied to Eld, looking back at Olivia, "I think that last titan she fought before knocked her head to the point of recklessness. More so than Erna's"

"Hey! I'm not that reckless!" Erna retorted, "I don't charge into titans from the nape into buildings like she did in front of the Commander!"

"She'll be fine," Eld said calmly, his attention fixed on the titan ahead of him and his eyes not leaving its body, "so long as she stays back and lets my squad members do the work on that titan. Just stay focused on the 14 metre class."

"Nearly there," he muttered under his breath. The titan seemed to be moving, but whether or not its legs were fully operational yet was unclear. It was only a few metres away, and he was eager to take his first chance to strike it down.

"We'll still attack as planned," Carlin reminded Erna, remembering to go for it's eyes and making sure Erna still had her mind set on taking out the shoulders.

Eld flew over the titan, ready to strike at its nape. Its legs seemed to be shifting slightly. _Almost fully healed,_ he realised, _we only have about 10 seconds to kill this thing before it gets up again._

Carlin, seeing for now the only reasonable way to blind it instantly made a push on the gas to gouge the beast's eyes out. And it worked...for one eye. As it cried out in pain, he ended up getting stuck between the teeth, getting a good view of the titan's gullet. But before it could crunch on him, a few teeth got knocked out and Erna pulled him back up. But for a moment she got distracted as she saw Olivia dealing with a crawler, that was running in circled rampant with Olivia hitching a ride on it.

Nevertheless, she held him quite close as she pulled him to a nearby roof for safety.

It was then that Eld delivered the finishing blow to the 14 metre class. He cursed, hurling himself out of the way as a crawler hurtled past him, Olivia on its back.

Meanwhile, Levi brought himself and his blades downwards in a single, deadly arc, slashing the 15-metre class' nape open wide before landing on the roof of an abandoned house. Petra and Gunther regrouped with him on the rooftop as he glanced around to check that his teammates and the new soldier who'd accompanied them were unharmed.

Olivia felt disappointed someone beat her to it on taking down a 15 meter, but was surprised to see Captain Levi was the one who went in for the kill. He definitely earned his title of Humanity's Strongest due to his skill. While watching from afar, she didn't realize a crawler was on her tail, running like a four legged animal. This was a surprise to her as it leaped onto the roof close by to grab her. It didn't get the chance to grab luckily with Olivia reacting just enough to slice it's fingers, but its force did knock her a few feet away from the others.

Good thing it wasn't to the head like the last one. As it toppled over the roof, the crawler looked towards Levi, Petra and Gunther, intending on making them it's new targets. However, A grappling hook shot towards it's nape and Olivia came zooming backwards. The titan seeing it's previous failed kill make a comeback was trying to grab her as best it can. Olivia was planning to end it the same way, but it had to be a different place. She didn't want for it to lead to another building destruction, especially when lives are present.

Gunther, Petra and Levi followed after the crawler, the captain moving forward to take out the thing before it smashed the soldier on its back into a building. Coincidently at the same time, Olivia prepared her blades for a vertical spin and charged forward. She sliced the nape, flesh coming clean off and splatting on the side of her face. The titan tumbled as it fell to the ground, making the line of Olivia's grapple wrap around it. Luckily, she activated her other grapple and skidded on the very ground to a halt. Seeing the beast decomposed, she wiped her forehead in relief. The adrenaline died down to near drained for her as she fell backwards from dizziness, landing on her lower body.

 _Damn...I guess I don't have that much left in me now._ Olivia thought as she slowly tried to rise up on her feet.

"Is that it?" Erna wondered out loud as she watched the 14 meter steam up as Carlin gave Olivia a hand to stand up straight.

"Good work, soldier," Levi said, landing nearby with his squad members. Eld walked over to them, glancing up at his superior, a silent request for orders.

"Return to the supply wagons," Levi ordered his squad, before turning to the new soldiers and saying, "get back to the front. You're needed there."

"Right!" Olivia, Erna and Carlin said, though first was still struggling to stand.

With those words, Levi set off with his squad for the supply wagons, resolving to ask Erwin who these three were once the expedition was over. Their skills were notable and perhaps one day they might earn a place on his squad.  The trio's horses were not far behind and they easily hoisted onto them, Olivia taking a little longer before they galloped to the front.

* * *

When Squad Levi had returned to their group of supply wagons, they were met by the sight of the northern district partially cleared of titans. "Make for the northern fortress," Erwin urged them, "my troops will provide cover."

Levi nodded, and he manoeuvred with the rest of his squad to do so.

"C'mon! The sooner the better!" Olivia encouraged the two as she moved forward.

"We're coming too!" Erna and Carlin voiced at the same time, looking a little awkward at each other until Erna continued, "If you have energy left in you, fine! But without us, it's not worth it."

It was thus that the final assault on the northern fortress in the city began. Titans were felled quickly and quietly, and soon, there was an opening.

Squad Levi took it as soon as it came, hurrying into the building with their supplies in tow. They would not miss this chance to finish the mission so quickly if they could help it. Other troops circled around the base, using their 3DMG to dispatch any titans that dared to approach it.

Look! There's already an opening!" Carlin pointed out, "this mission might actually be a success!"

"Really?! You mean it?!" Olivia exclaimed in surprise at him.

"About time. With a high death count, it's rare for a win. With them dropping like flies, not every mission's a victory." Erna expanded.

"Well, it'll hopefully shut the town up with their vocal abuse..." Olivia viewed positively as they galloped onward.

While Squad Levi were situated in the building, two aberrants ran towards their formations. This was the perfect environment for such titans, and the four-metre class scampering about was causing havoc, along with the 14-metre aberrant which lunged forward to take a bite out of any human matter it could get hold of.

"There are two titans showing up!" Carlin shouted, "4 and 14!"

"I'll deal with the 4 meter, you two go after the 14 meter!" Olivia suggested.

"Olivia! Are those two you took out aren't enough?!" Erna exclaimed.

"They were, but a 4 meter will be small enough to take down solo. I'm well enough for this." Olivia answered as she activated her gear and zooming off to the 4 meter.

Erna and Carlin stared disappointingly at her, before shooting off towards the 14 meter with other soldiers.

As Olivia zoomed towards the 4 meter, other soldiers came behind her.

"Looks like you could use a hand, Carver of the Dead!"

"Yeah! You can't carve yourself!"

They were the same guys who were picking on Erna...about time they changed.

"Wow. Even after she caused them to be gorging in their shitty puke..." Erna muttered amused, seeing the two fight with Olivia.

"Brent and Cole were never submissive...unless they're just doing it for you," Carlin replied.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Erna denied, wholeheartedly.

Erwin watched from a distance as his troops were sent in en masse to deal with the titans. This would soon become a massacre if he didn't act fast. He set off to find one of his most trusted captains, knowing that his abilities would be effective against these aberrants.

"Get the tendons! We can corner it when it tumbles into that building!" Carlin advised Erna as he gained on slicing the elbows of the 14 metre.

Erna nodded as she zoomed in on her blades to cut the legs.

 _Damn! This is harder than I thought..._ Olivia thought as she went after the 4 meter along with Brent and Cole. It may be small, but that just made it more faster.

Erwin soon found the captain he was looking for, his squad assembled behind that man. "Captain Mike," Erwin ordered, "get your troops over there and help the new soldiers."

Mike, who was often a man of few words, simply nodded and followed his orders, motioning for the troops under his command to join him as he used his 3DMG to advance quickly towards Erna and Carlin.

Hearing a few more sounds of a grapple, Erna turned around after gouging out one of the titan's eyes on the head. In shortening distance, she could see Mike's Squad coming towards them.

"Looks like we've got a Squad's company!" she shouted out, leading them all to notice them.

"If it's redemption by killing it. Don't. You're assistance has me on good terms with you. Remember! There are two sides: Us and them!" Olivia replied to Brent and Cole.

They both nodded, turning back to slash at both of the titan's arms, making it scream out.

As he approached with his squad, Mike barked at Erna, "Get back from its face, soldier!"

It was a dire warning, for staying near a titan's face - even a one-eyed titan's face - with your back turned was a move that could easily bring about your death.

"Erna!" Carlin yelled out as he shot towards her. The action did save her, but due to the odd position in his arm, came a snap and a small cry.

He moved her out of the way onto a building to check if she was alright and himself. Apparently durability isn't his strength, as he suffered a dislocation or perhaps a broken arm.

 _Damn..._ He grimaced in pain.

"Carli! Are you alright?!" Daniella exclaimed.

"Yeah, just one arm out of action for now...." Carlin gritted, "It's fine..."

"Charl...I'm..." Daniella couldn't finish due to the transparent expression of guilt.

 

"Got ya!" Cole yelled as he sliced the 4 metre's tendons. Now he can easily finish it off. But he was being far two cocky, heading for the front of it's face to blind it, however he acted too late as the 4 meter opened its drooling jaws and clamped on his head, leaving his upper blood gushing body on the ground.

"COLE!" Brent screamed, intending on carrying his body to safety so he can mourn him, but that ended up being his demise as well, only they both got swallowed together.

While they were idiots when they met, Olivia respected their short but non doubtful change of heart and wished they could do more. She got out her blades, ready to continue where they left off.

"Squad, we'll take these titans out momentarily," Mike stated, "but first, we need to conduct preliminary operations. Lynne, Henning - I want you to go protect those two new soldiers." Nodding to Carlin and Erna, Mike gave his indication of who they were, and his two subordinates set off almost instantaneously to their position.

"Gelgar, Nanaba: with me," Mike ordered, "the 14 metre here is going down." Blades drawn, the soldiers approached the titans from three different angles, ready to inflict maximum damage on the aberrant.

With its attention split between three soldiers, the aberrant was momentarily confused. This gave Gelgar the time he needed to slice away its tendons even as Nanaba disabled one of its arms (on the left side) by shearing off the muscle supporting it. With its left side open to attack, Mike moved in to finish it off, and then its unnatural tendencies kicked in, and it suddenly focused 100% of its attention on the captain.

Lunging for him with its right arm, it was surprised to find him spinning along the limb, drawing a deep slash down it, before rising into the air above its neck, poised to deliver a finishing blow to the beast.

Mike spun downwards, hitting the 14-metre class' neck with a single devastating strike, before latching onto a rooftop and landing next to Gelgar and Nanaba to assess his handiwork and check whether or not the beast was truly dead.

 

Meanwhile, Lauda flew away to reach Olivia, having just been ordered by his captain to help her finish the 4 metre titan off.

Olivia turned around to see Lauda come right by her, "Stay way from the mouth," she warned, "I just witnessed 2 soldiers get eaten!"

"Thanks," the soldier replied, "do you have any information on this aberrant's tendencies?"

He glanced at the titan, wondering how much time they had to share military intelligence before it struck once more.

"From what I've seen, it's quick to bite whatever touches it's teeth," Olivia explained, looking at the jaws that devoured Brent and Cole. 

Lauda said, "Alright, we'll finish it here...it seems to have difficulty moving."

He noticed smoke rising from where its tendons should have been, and remarked, "Excellent, it has restricted mobility. You go for the neck and I'll lash out if it tries anything, ok?"

"Right!" Olivia answered, aiming one of the grappling hooks at the back of it's neck, ready to strike down at it. However, the 4 meter managed to chomp on the wire, slowly nibbling at it. Olivia wasn't sure how sturdy the wires were to a titan's jaw, but if frail...

"Disengage your gear," Lauda urged Olivia, "drop that bitten half of it off your body and retreat!" It would be difficult to ensure a safe landing to the ground occurred with only one grappling hook, but Olivia could not afford to allow her body, attached to her gear, to be caught indirectly in the grip of a titan's teeth.

He moved forward, manoeuvring around the titan to get a clear shot at its neck from behind it.

"No! I can still do this! I can't back down on the ground right now!" Olivia denied. It may have been bitten, but hell, if it could strangle the beast, it's still capable to her.

Olivia made a move to swing it underneath the titan's neck, wrapping it around like a leash before using her other functioning half to zoom into the back of it's neck. The result was the titan losing it's balance and falling to the ground. However, the resulting effect was sending Olivia down with it. She didn't hit the ground luckily because her landing place was at the back of it's head where the nape was exposed.

The last thing Olivia remembered was bringing her blade down on the titan's nape before losing consciousness.


	6. Olivia: Chapter 5 - Returning From The Horizon

Lauda landed near Olivia's unconscious body and picked it up, sighing. She shouldn't have made such a valiant attempt, and although it had worked, it had been far too risky a move for him to condone. Using his 3DMG, he latched onto a nearby building and flew towards his captain's position.

Mike, who was currently stationed with the rest of his squad, approached the two new soldiers nearby his position and asked them, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah...we're good," Carlin in a way half lied. He was alive, sure, but with an arm injury and Erna still a guilt silenced comrade.

"Damage report?' Mike asked him, "anything serious happen to you two? Are you still able to fight?"

Lauda made his presence known with a thump as he landed on the rooftop, Olivia in his arms. "This one knocked herself out killing a titan, sir," he informed Mike, "I'm not sure of her injuries, but perhaps it's best to hand her over to the medics."

"Olivia!" Erna and Carlin exclaimed, both of them running over to her. They both knew what that meant and that was she pushed her limit. She still had her previous injuries, a cut to the side of her forehead and patches of bruises here and there.

"She seems to be in a stable condition, sir," Lauda informed Mike, "we'll be able to check how comprehensive her injuries are later."

Then, Mike breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a green smoke round. "Mission complete!" Erwin shouted, "Squad Levi have delivered the supplies in the final base. We return to Wall Rose now."

A great cheer went up amongst the troops anxious to get home before they sustained more casualties, and, in titan-free territory, they began to prepare themselves for the ride back to Trost.

"We...we actually did it..." Carlin breathed out in amazement, even Erna was astonished.

Despite their injuries, the Corps actually succeeded in completing a mission. This was such a day worthy of history. Though many lives we're lost from the feat. With weary eyes, Olivia was able to hear echoes of the cheering and the blurs of the comrades before submerging back into the darkness.

"Yes, we did," Mike said, "well done. Make it back and even Oluo in Special Operations will call you a soldier after that."

The new troops who survived their first expedition had their chances of survival go up exponentially in the next one. Such was the way of the world: although facing the titans would always be incredibly dangerous, facing them and living to tell the tale massively helped a soldier do it again.

Using his 3DMG, he managed a controlled descent to the ground, and then began to look for his horse. Gelgar, Henning, Lauda and Lynne swiftly followed him, leaving only Nanaba, who duly offered to carry Olivia.

"Wait!" Erna stopped Nanaba in her steps, "Let me carry her."

Carlin gasped as he looked at her, "Huh? Erna, you're already full with your hands carrying me and Hilda."

"Carli, I'll be fine!" Erna argued but Carlin retorted.

"No! If anything, you should handle the horse, Erni!"

"Not in that state you're not!"

"I've got one arm fine along with the rest of my body!"

"As if you can carry someone with one working arm, let alone carrying her like a sack of shit!"

Nanaba frowned and said, "If you're having difficulty carrying other things, I am more than happy to attend to a fallen soldier. I'll take her to the medical wagon."

"Don't you dare say Oli's a fallen soldier!" Erna hissed out, before Carlin placed his good arm on her.

"Erni, please. If she's fine with it, then so is everything else. Arguing's not going to wake her up...and my arm's not getting any better from it." Carlin persuaded.

All she could do was sigh in response and lead Carlin and their horses away.

Nanaba stared at Erna and Carlin, puzzled. She didn't see anything offensive about referring to someone who had been knocked out by a titan and was currently incapable of movement as 'fallen', but her friend seemed to be fiercely proud of Olivia. She picked up the body of the young woman, thinking, _How bizarre...it must be the effect of the battle on that other new soldier that made her snap._

Lowering herself to the ground shortly afterwards, she walked over to the wagon where the other critically wounded troops lay. The unconscious soldier would be sharing a carriage with many soldiers who were on their deathbeds, crippled for life, or seriously injured, amongst others. Nanaba pitied putting the youth through that, but there was no censoring the carnage that would be unleashed in future expeditions, so it was best that Olivia was exposed to it now, so that she could acclimatise to it.

"Move out," Erwin boomed, and, as one, the formation began to leave the town, beginning their return to human territory.

* * *

Despite her taking one hell of a wrecking, or rather three, Olivia wasn't that long unconscious and found herself stirring a little on the wooden wagon. Opening her eyes, she was greeted by the sky's suitable time scenery. She rubbed her head a little, feeling an oncoming headache and stared around at the other soldiers joining the same carriage as her. Though she knew not all of them who shed their blood are still walking...

Awakening to a bunch of soldiers close to death, lacking mobility or didn't appear to be as lucky as her was more than a wake up call. As the carriage moved due to Erwin's command to leave the destination some time ago, Olivia just took it all in and nothing else apart from standing by the deathbed soldiers. It's going to be a long list to read and carve from...

After leaving the town, the Survey Corps encountered little titan trouble on the way back to Wall Rose. The few titans that did try to approach were outrun by the long range formation, and the soldiers made good progress. Within the hour, a scout barked, "Approaching Wall Rose! Estimated time of arrival is 5 minutes!"

Olivia raised her head at this, looking over to see if Erna and Carlin were close by. However, they appeared to be far up in front, holding onto each other more closer than normal. Looking at the others, she assumed the faces she was more familiar with were was up front and began to observe the other wounded soldiers. She noticed a soldier's bandage leaking out too much blood, so she took the bandages off her hands and proceeded to wrap them around his leg. Then she used the sheet of what she lied in to make a sling for a female soldier's broken arm.

Soon after that, the soldiers entered Trost district, the gate yawning wide open shortly after being risen to greet the returning troops. Crowds of civilians were clustered near the entrance, interested to see the results of the expedition.

She had just finished using the last of her unneeded bandages before the gates to Trost opened. Peeking from the wooden structure, Olivia looked around to see if her sister could see her coming back through the streets. However, she couldn't see not even a speck of Gwen's appearance, not even her parents. Perhaps they probably thought best to not look and she choose to believe that decision. After all: family's the first thing to come to mind.

"Was the mission a success?" was the first question asked, at which Erwin, who was riding at the front of the formation, nodded.

"That's right," one civilian said, "we'll bash those monsters into the ground!"

As more troops filed into the city, the mood soon lost its jubilation. "There are fewer than before," one civilian muttered, "the best you could call this thing was a Pyrrhic victory."

"No, it's yet another loss," one man proclaimed resentfully, "a loss of our taxes on sending out people to die expensively."

It was then that the mood turned ugly. Questions like, "Where is my son?" and "What have you done with my sister?" pervaded the air as angry and distraught relatives queued up to throw insults at the Survey Corps and its leadership for failing their loved ones in their hour of need. Other murmurs pierced the atmosphere too, softly spoken bemoanings of how the Survey Corps was little more than a waste of human life, precious time and public money.

Olivia gritted her teeth, hearing every insult being thrown at the Corps. It honestly made her blood boil because it was vaguely familiar to years ago...She would've attempted to clench her hands together before someone stopped her.

"Don't," a familiar voice denied, which came from Erna, holding her hands by the wrists with one of her own, "You wouldn't want them to be useless."

Letting out a small sigh, Olivia resumed back to observing the passengers on her horse drawn ride.

The parade of humiliation, as it was known amongst veteran soldiers, soon passed, and the formation left Trost, heading deeper into the walls towards Survey Corps HQ. Soon, they would be home, and there it would be time to take stock of what the Titans had taken away from them on the 28th expedition beyond Wall Rose.

* * *

After finally stopping by HQ, Olivia helped the injured soldiers off the wagon to get proper treatment. Daniella was no where around then, so she assumed she's probably with Charlie. There were those who protested on her helping them, since she was injured also, but she still helped out no matter what they said. After the last one was inside, Olivia hopped off to go join the other soldiers when she noticed she was being spectated by possibly more than a pair of eyes. Turning around she was surprised to see who were still waiting outside.

She wasn't expecting one of Levi's squad members to still be outside when they've all gone inside for other matters.

"Petra? Shouldn't you be with your Squad? They'll be wondering if one of them is missing." Olivia replied, picking herself up off the ground.

"I came out here to see if you were alright," Petra admitted, "it's been a year since my first expedition, but I still remember that it can be a pretty stressful experience. You weren't too badly hurt, were you?"

"Nah! I'm pretty much still standing!" Olivia answered with a smile, "a couple of bruises, but I'm still fit to work!"

Olivia then looked down at her hands in curiosity.

"Hey, Petra? You we're on the roof, right? So you saw me take out that crawler. What did it look like?" Olivia questioned, wanting her point of view.

"It looked pretty good," Petra said, "excellent move, although you should have left it to the other soldiers. Don't put yourself in danger when you're ordered not to, and you should have a better chance of surviving in future missions."

"I understand. I wasn't planning on being reckless, but... Something just...surfaced. I felt a whole new person when that first titan knocked me into the sky." Olivia explained, still looking at her hands.

"It's understandable," Petra sympathised, "the titans always affect us in an odd way on our first expedition. Just try to keep yourself under control next time, ok? Erwin wouldn't want somebody who's already killed several titans dying on us."

"Yeah! That'll be something I'll do next month!" Olivia exclaimed, already liking that idea, then remembered about the deaths that happened today. At least this HQ was right next to the woods, so she'll won't have to worry. Taking one of the sheets from the wagon, she made a run to the woods.

"Wait, where are you going?" Petra asked Olivia, confused as to why the other woman had just spontaneously ran off into the forest.

"To get some wood!" she answered back as she continued to run in the direction of the woods, equipped with two of her blades and sprinting forward into the woodlands.

 _What for?_ Petra wondered, before deciding that if Olivia only wanted to give her so much information, it would be rude to probe for further knowledge.

Sighing, she turned around and made her way back to the gates of the castle. Her squad probably would be wondering where she was by now, and it was likely that some sort of post-expedition administration work needed to be done by her.

 

Half an hour later, Olivia returned to the castle, carrying a large amount of clean cut wood. As she walked through the hauled with the sheet hunched over her soldier, she saw no sign of Daniella and Charlie, so they were probably in the medical ward. She didn't look around to see who she was passing and even if she passed someone, they never said a word. Probably because they were still shaken up from the expedition. Opening the door to her thoroughly cleaned room, she threw the sheet inside, causing the stack of wood to clatter out once it hit the wall and the ground, which echoed trough the halls due to her opened door.

The olive eyed cadet let out a long sigh after dumping all the wood on the floor, she instantly picked up one of the blocks and started scraping of the rough ragged bark with long swift cuts, so she can start the carving. She failed however to close her door shut, leaving it widely opened. There were only a few lit lights, which stretched her silhouetted shadow to reveal her movements in scraping away at the wood. After all the rough bark was removed, Olivia set to work on the first two comrades: Brent and Cole; those who chose to seek redemption, only to have their lives extinguished by a titan's jaw.

 

"The new soldiers are rather odd," Gunther remarked absentmindedly to Oluo. The two were cleaning a room - or supposed to be cleaning it, anyway - at the behest of their captain. "I recently saw one of them walking around with clean cut wood. It wasn't due to orders that they were doing this - they just happened to be carrying it. Plus, it was way more than enough to make a fire. Sometimes, I really do wonder about the new troops."

"At least I know I wasn't crazy when I was a cadet," Olou sniffs.

"Life wasn't crazy at all then," Eld agreed, thinking back to their time in training. "I guess ever since going outside the walls...that was pretty insane. Even though we're relatively safe compared to the other troops because we're in Special Operations, it can still get to me sometimes. What about you? Anyway, it's probable this might that woman's reaction to her first expedition. She is new here, after all."

"Please," Olou said pompously, "I am a soldier. Killing titans is my job, and I am a master!"

"Pfft," Eld scorned, "you're trying to impersonate our captain again, aren't you?"

What!?" Olou exclaimed. "When have I ever-" He was suddenly cut off as he bit his tongue.

Hearing a scream echo through the halls, Olivia halted her work to look at the door. That was when she noticed it wide open, but figured it'll be fine since she wasn't making too much of a mess and had just finished Brent's carving. She knew the scream she heard and muffled anything else was Carlin's scream of getting his arm back in place. Grabbing another block of wood, she scraped of the bark to create Cole.

"That's one thing he can't do," Eld said, "you ought to be more careful, though."

"Owwww, my poor tongue," Olou moaned. "I got blood on my cravat."

"Did you get that cravat just to be more like Levi?" Eld asked Oluo, "honestly, you ought to be more comfortable with yourself, Oluo. As for your tongue, well, this is not the first time you've done that and if you really wanted to be more like Levi, you'd be more appalled by the state of your cravat than your tongue."

"I'm making a fashion statement!" Olou snapped.

"Oh? So that's all the rage now, is it?" Eld asked curiously, "or do you think that our captain is fashionable?"

"No!" Olou howled, "Argh!" He began to stomp off.

"Oluo, don't leave," Eld pleaded, "I was only teasing!"

"Fine," Olou sniffed and turned back around.

"Besides, I need you here...I can't clean this room to the captain's standards alone!" Eld pleaded.

"That's true," Olou said, inspecting his nails.

 

As that banter was continuing, Gunther stood in Olivia's doorway, having decided to act on hearing the scream. "Did that sound come from this room? You know, the scream?" he asked Olivia, after waving in greeting to her.

Olivia looked up from her carving and saw one of Levi's Squad member's by the door. She would've been surprised where Gunter was from, but she just continued her carving.

"It's probably Carlin's from the medical ward," Olivia assumed with a smile, "Don't worry, Erna's with him. If anything, he might be better already! I heard about his arm being bent wrong..."

"Carlin, huh? You know him?" Gunther asked, "I'll go check on this boy with the wounded arm, then."

"Okay then. Tell him I said hi, and I'll hopefully see him in the morning!" Olivia called out as she placed another completed carving on her shelf and began with making another. As she did this, more shavings were being created and it was getting to the point of getting out the door. For now it was fine, but if the wind got to it, a certain short captain wouldn't be happy on seeing the halls become like a barn.

"Right," Gunther said, "what's your name, soldier? If I am to tell him you said hi?" He squinted at the carvings; they seemed to resemble people, and he actually found them rather creepy. _Ritualistic mumbo jumbo,_ he mused, _even crazier than the Wall Cult._

"Oh, I'm Olivia Dale. Nice to meet you! You're Gunther, right?" Olivia guessed, "Carlin explained about you a month ago."

"Yes, that's right," Gunther said, "I'll be going now. By the way, you ought to confine the mess from the...

After trailing off, he suggested, "...carving?"

"Whatever you are doing right now, anyway," he explained, pointing at the wooden carvings, "confine the mess caused by it to this room. If it goes far outside then my captain will have a problem with it, and I can guarantee that he will make that problem everyone's problem."

"Yeah, it does seem to be drifting towards the exit..." Olivia admits, looking down at all the shavings and turning back to him with an affirmed nod, "Okay! I'll make sure of that."

Gunther nodded and left the area, leaving Olivia with her carvings. The new cadet instantly closed the door to her room, keeping true to her word to not let any shavings escape from her room.

* * *

As Erna walked to her door, she failed to hear any other voice than her own. So she was beyond surprised when she found the door locked to her room. She bashed on the door multiple times in order for it to open.

"Oli! Open the damn door!" Erna growled, "we're heading to the mess hall in half an hour!"

"I'll be out later! Just don't open the door!" Olivia warned, still carving out one of the many dead soldiers.

"Why the hell not?!" Daniella shouted, "don't tell me you're planning to skip meals!"

Petra walked along the corridors of Survey Corps HQ, looking for her squad-mates. She soon heard the sound of commotion, and frowned to see one of the new soldiers she'd noticed performing well shouting at a doorway (presumably with someone behind it).

Approaching Erna, she frowned in puzzlement and asked, "Is something wrong? Can I help you?"

Oli's skiving dinner to do her carvings!" Erna explained, as if she was telling a high school teacher.

"Am not! I'll be there as promised, but the rooms kinda full!" Olivia cautioned through the door.

"Full of what?!" Erna questioned

Olivia sighed to open the door, but only a little wide for them to see. Her room was littered with the wooden shavings from her carvings, which made Daniella more than just upset.

"Damn it, Oli! Couldn't you just carve them in groups instead of all at once?!" Erna exclaimed, eying the pile of shavings.

"They're weren't many victims as before," Olivia pointed out, "And would you please be careful?! Gunther told me to keep it secure in case they spread out into the halls!"

"Victims? Carvings?" Petra asked, clearly confused, "I hope there's nothing wrong here, soldiers."

She knew that there were some odd cults around and that people could be driven somewhat mad by the horrors beyond the walls, but this seemed to be on a whole new level of sinisterness.

"Oh! Hello, Petra," Olivia greeted her, just now noticing her presence, "Sorry, for the mess in here. I'm kinda busy, even after the expedition."

"Olivia?" Petra asked, remembering her from earlier. _Wood shavings? Are those from the forest she ran into earlier?_ Petra mused.

"What are you doing in here, if you don't mind me asking?" Petra questioned, trying to make her tone sound as non-confrontational as possible despite the bluntness of the phrase.

"This is mine and Erna's room," Olivia explained, pointing to Erna, "got pretty bored with nothing to do, so I just...focused on doing something else to my own accord!" as she said all of this with a wide smile, she noticed her being uncomfortable, "What? You're almost as dumbfounded as he was when he came in here." Olivia added, referring 'he' as Gunther.

Petra was about to ask who she was referring to before shepointed to the wooden carvings, and asked curiously, "What are those?"

"They're carvings of the dead soldiers who couldn't make it back in one piece. I make them for the families in order to keep," Olivia explained as she twisted her carving knife with both her hands, "Gunther didn't really like them for some reason...but that's everyone's first impression!" She then ran over to pick one of the wooden figurines to show her. This soldier had curly hair in braided pigtails, giving off the trademarked salute of pride wearing the Corp's uniform. Surprisingly enough, it looked as if it was the splitting image from a recently deceased soldier.

"This one's Koralle Zimmer! She has a family who works as carpenters in the upper part of Wall Rose. Sadly, she was taken by an abnormal crawler running rampant..." Olivia closed her eyes as she held the figurine close to her, but turned bright as looked back at it, "But this'll make her family happy! Knowing that she died for what she believed in!"

Petra's mind was mostly occupied by a whirlwind of thoughts about these carvings. She found them slightly odd and perhaps morbid - it was best not to dwell on death for too long, in her opinion - but she admired Olivia's respect for the fallen soldiers, and the permanent expression of it in these carvings. "I see," she said quietly, "that's very considerate of you.

"If you tell me who your carvings are for, I can source their next of kin's addresses. That way, you'll know where to deliver them," Petra suggested.

"Really?! You'd do that?!" Olivia exclaimed, then pulled Petra into a cuddling hug, "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou! That'll get me done sooner! See, Erni? I told you I won't miss out!"

Petra seemed surprised to receive a hug, but hugged Olivia back, offering the girl a sisterly smile. "Certainly," she said, "although you shouldn't skip a meal. I'll talk to you later about this, if you'd like."

Erna could only sigh and look away, "Whatever. Just...hurry up for dinner!" and then stormed off to the mess hall.

 _Huh? Did I say something bad?_ Olivia thought, watching her go, however she perked up when seeing Petra was still there, "Yeah, that would be great!" Olivia agreed, releasing her from the hug.

"Alright then, let's do that," Petra resolved, "I should see my squad now."

She stepped back, ready to leave.

"Yeah! I should get back as well! Hopefully by then the shavings will be cleared up." Olivia turned around to head back to her room, peeking out her hand to wave before shutting he door behind her.


	7. Olivia: Chapter 6 - The Truth In Which She Carves

At exactly half an hour, Olivia had finished her carvings of all the fallen soldiers that were devoured. Needless to say the entire room looked like it was stuffed with bundles of haystacks by the time she was done. Dusting off the excess bark on her uniform, she left the room to join up with the other soldiers to the dining hall. Since Carlin was still recovering, he wasn't present, but Erna was ordering 2 meals to herself.

"Erni? Are you sure about carrying two meals on your own? I could carry the-"

"You've done enough work, Oli!" Erna interrupted her, "besides, this one's Carli's. But if you're so intent on doing more, you can look after my meal while I give it to him."

Olivia nodded, "Okay. Just...promise me you won't take too long. After all, if you don't want me to skip dinner, don't let me get it last."

"...I promise." Erna repeated before she walked off with Carlin's meal and Olivia sat down with Erna's.

As she waited Squad Levi sat at one table (minus their captain), engaged in practically animated conversation.

"...and that new recruit, Olivia - you know, the one who killed those titans today - I saw her carrying large piles of wood around in HQ. I wondered why," Gunther said.

"It's to carve images of dead soldiers," Petra explained.

"Thanks kinda weird," Olou says, when Hange puts her two coins in.

"THATS REALLY COOL!" She says, her mouth full of food when she talks.

"Ew, Hange, that's gross," Olou says, wrinkling his nose in disgust

Eld glanced down at the ground, feeling slightly put off his food by that bizarre and slightly creepy revelation. "Well, everyone has their way of coping with these things," he remarked. He was more than used to eccentricity in this branch of the military, because soldiers who actively chose to fight giant monsters in a high mortality role would have to be either incredibly brave or slightly insane. His own captain was quite the neat freak, and the top scientist who he often did tasks for as a member of Special Operations was obsessed with the most terrifying species on the planet.

Olivia sat on the bench, twirling her carving knife as she waited in silence for Erna to come back. She was very patient luckily, but inside she wondered if she would spend too long in the medical ward. She wasn't going to get her own food, because that would mean she would leave Erna's tray behind. Luckily, said person made it back to the mess hall and could finally get something to eat. But as she went to get her fill, soldiers were looking at her. Those from Trost and Shigansina had a look of worry because the other districts as well as most from the rural areas looked at her odd. While they did get along with Olivia still, the time she stuck to her carvings became unsettling.

 

As Olivia sat beside Erna to consume her meal, a male soldier from a different district walked over to her table with a scowl on his face. Seeing him from the back of her eye, she turned around with a smile.

"Bruno! Relieved to see you back alive. I heard about your-"

She was interrupted by his hand grabbing her from her table and being slammed against the stone brick wall.

"What kind of voodoo crap are you planning, Olivia?!" Bruno demanded.

"Bruno, that's enough," Eld said, rising from his chair, "save your violence for the titans."

"Yeah, cool it down, Bru," a regular soldier added.

"Like hell I will, I'm not waiting another month!" Bruno growled out, but still kept his eyes on Olivia, "Answer me!"

While Olivia was wide eyed at the sudden lunge Bruno gave out, she became her normal self for a moment before letting out her laughing smile.

"Oh, this never gets old," Olivia answered as her laughter was subsiding, "I mean, you and Koralle are from a rural area, so news vaguely become rumours."

Suddenly Hange's hands were on Bruno's shoulders and he is no longer gripping Olivia. Instead he finds himself on the ground, the scientist standing over him, her glasses' glare hiding her eyes. The soldier looked up to see Squad Leader Hange looming over him. Olivia was enough to deal with, but Hange was way over the line. He stared at her in shock and fear, but shock was more visible when Olivia stepped in front of them.

"Okay now, Squad Leader. With all due respect, but there's no need to go far as the wide open spaces of land in his home." Olivia replied.

"I won't hurt him. Probably." Hange says, her tone holding a threat directed at him. "I just want our dear Bruno to know that if he ever decides to lay his hands on you again, he'll wake up without any." She smiles sweetly at him. "And I think he should tell his friends that too."

Olivia was surprised to say the least. She easily stood firm on the ground with her own two feet when explaining what she does and she has been backed up before, but this was the first time someone sided with her by physically defending her.

Gunther shook his head. What Dominic had done was wrong, but if Olivia had been carving figurines of someone he'd loved who'd recently died (and Gunther knew that was the case in Bruno's situation), he might have been a bit freaked out. _I wonder why she laughed in response to his violence,_ he mused, _is she nervous? T_ _his is really odd,_ he decided.

"Now how about you get out of here" Hange suggest in a patient tone as one might use for a baby.

Olivia gave Hange a look that reassured her that she can take it from here. She wasn't going to let Bruno leave right now. If he did, he'll have to abide what he still thinks of her, which is not true.

"Alright," Hange says cheerily, and skips away.

Once she's away enough, Olivia turned her head to her main objective, "Tell me...excluding the casualties that came back to the walls, how many were chomped leaving behind a limb or were completely eaten?" Olivia questioned Bruno as well as every soldier who crowded around her.

"It's a huge bummer for the families who were waiting for them to return home. After all, you see their disappointment every time we return to the walls," Olivia referenced, remembering the demanding and the grief the unlucky families expressed, "the only thing we have left of them are memories. Of course...a lot of memories come to us everyday of our lives. They can be short, which we tend to forget, or long, that sticks to our minds forever. Just like your little sister," Olivia referenced, leaning down to Brno, "however...there could be a time in your life that you can forget those long memories."

She then took out his hand and placed the wooden figurine of Koralle Zimmer in his hands, "So..." she continued, "I made this in order for you to not forget about her. You don't have to keep it, since it was intended for your family. And if they don't want it...Well, it's wood. They can chuck it into the fire, just like that one over there," she pointed out the nearby fireplace, that was already burning the firewood, "but hear me out. To me, people become dead on this earth if they are forgotten completely. Putting that doll to the flames and turning it into ashes would be like erasing memories of herself when she was alive, which makes you more of an idiot than what you tried to do to me! If you do that, then you want to forget Koralle! And if you want to forget her, then what's the point of grieving?!"

After her famous speech, everyone became so silent, you could cut the atmosphere with a knife or a pin drop would be able to get a sound. Taking it all in, Dominic looked down tearfully at the wooden figurine of his little sister and clutched it close to his chest tightly.

"T-Thank you..." Bruno sobbed out quietly, before crying it out, "Thank you, Olivia! Thank you!"

Olivia smiled down at him before helping him up as he continued to thank her.

"Thank you! Thank you...so much!"

"That could have ended a lot worse," Gunther muttered to his colleagues quietly. As Eld nodded, Petra smiled and said, "I'm glad everything turned out ok. At least Hange didn't dissect Bruno."

"Yeah, unfortunately," Hange says, sitting down.

Tears spilled from Olou's eyes. "That was a beautiful speech," he sniffed

When Olivia looked around, she saw a dramatic change in the room. Every soldier she laid eyes on felt sympathetic and guilty, for what they first thought and feeling sad for Olivia for who she had to carve out. Turning her head around to her table, she noticed Erna having a curious look, yet keeping a scowl.

What she didn't notice was Erwin himself, watching her give her speech about her carvings out of the corner of his eye, Erwin remarked to Levi, "That new one is interesting. She's from this year's total ten graduates, and we rarely get those in the Survey Corps. Do you think she's one to watch? She proved herself to be quite talented in this expedition; give her a months, and I think she could be a formidable soldier."

Levi folded his arms, expression unchanging, "Maybe..," he said, betraying nothing he was really thinking. Yet a slight glimmer in his eyes showed that this Olivia Dale could actually be useful. And if he didn't believe that, he had full trust in Erwin.

 

Olivia went back to her table and to eat with Erna, not saying a word anymore throughout dinner. After she was done, almost every soldier had gone back to their dorms, including Erna. As she was beginning to walk out, she noticed Petra walk over to her from her comrades. Probably for the promise she made earlier, and she was glad about it.

"Not such a creepy hobby, is it?" Olivia replied to Petra, with her hand on her hip.

"No," Petra agreed, "although it's certainly unique. Do you have any other statues besides the one of Coraline Simmers today?"

"I know where a few peoples' families might be," she said quietly, having to draw her mind back to the families of the deceased, the suffering of which she did not want to dwell on for too long. The pain of losing important people in one's life was a pain she knew all too well, and while she was more than happy to remember the soldiers themselves, she did not often like to consider what they left behind them.

"Yeah, there all in my room. I've already sorted out the shavings too, so you won't have to worry about the mess. Come on! The sooner the better!" Olivia replied as she grabbed Petra's hand to run to her dorm.

When they got to her room, Erna's already on the top bunk resting, but with her eyes staring into the ceiling. She wasn't going to complain about the large sacks of shavings Olivia had in her room, after all, none of them came on her bed.

Olivia was showing Petra each and every figure she carved and once they found the addresses, they were put in a box for now. And they were close to completion from the looks of it.

"Victor Bucht, he had perished when he was eaten by a 14 meter titan on the outskirts of the captured base." Olivia recalled.

"Right," Petra nodded, "his parents live in the Nedlay district. I should be able to find them fairly easily."

"Great!" Olivia replied, cheerfully, "Tiffany Graton. That's easy! Her family resides now in Trost! We actually used to skip small stones down on the river. Never was bright on accuracy, which in turn led to her literal downfall into a titan's mouth..."

"You know, it would be nice to shut up on their cause of death," Erna blurted out, sitting up, "after all, you carve bodies that are incomplete due to being nearly chomped on."

 _She seems awfully positive about the deaths of others, but I suppose - given our job - that's a good thing for her,_ Petra mused.

"Any more?" she asked Olivia. The only female member of Squad Levi was impressed that Olivia had been able to carve so many figurines in such a small space of time.

"Hmm... nope! I think we're done here!" Olivia concluded, "Thank you so much, Petra. I'm sorry if it took up too much time to make your squad and captain suspicious."

"It's fine," Petra said with a dismissive wave, "I'll get these carvings sent out over the following days," she said, glancing down at the bag containing Olivia's artwork.

"If you have any other issues like the one with Bruno today, just call," she offered Olivia, before leaving the room with the bag in her hands.

"I'm still trying to figure out how you got her wrapped up in the first place..." Erna wondered out loud, not caring if Petra is still in the room.

Olivia let out a humming giggle before looking back up at Erna, "Well, I've always seemed to be the type for people to engage in conversation with when they first see me. After all, you were willing to chat with me when we were trainees. I regret not spending enough time with them, though. After all, full lives aren't achieved much anymore with the titans around. I... hope she'll be alright. I mean, there are some who aren't from Trost or Shigansina,"

"Relax. She's part of Squad Levi. No-ones gonna bat an eye at that," Erna somewhat grudgingly reassures before lying down on her bed, "Now hurry up and rest. We've got some hard-core training tomorrow and we expect to be on time."

"Alright! Geez, you're like a stern nurse even without Carlin," Olivia answered, as she climbed into her bed.

Erna blushes but turns her head to hide it as she goes to sleep, Olivia doing the same.


	8. Olivia: Chapter 7 - Training in the Woods

"OliOliOli! Wake! Wake! Up!" Erna yelled, but Olivia seemed to be in deep sleep. She had been shaking her awake for a few minutes.

"Zzz...Gwenie...it's just a regular storm. I'll keep you company...Zzz..."

_***SMACK*** _

After receiving a swift whack, Olivia bolded up from her sleep I surprise and let out a yawn, which she covered her mouth for. While running her hand through her unravelled bedhead, she looked towards her roommate with squinted eyes and noticed her damp hair.

"Erni? It isn't even close to breakfast...And is it raining?" Olivia questioned.

"No! Did you embalm your brain with your knife as you slept?!" Erna answered, "I'm waking you so you can get the fuck out of bed for a shower!"

"Oh yeah! Training!" she cheered and rushed off to shower in the blink of an eye.

It was far from 20 minutes before Olivia returned from her shower. But she lacked her cloak, jacket and top being apparelled, leaving her in just her strapless, but scarce revealing bra, which supported her C-cup sized breasts. It was also revealed that she was quite lean, but not overly muscular to having a pack unless observed very closely.

"Yeah, not what you'd expect," Olivia responded, "but it'll change throughout the month!"

"Breakfast is over," a soldier announced, "move out, people. Let's go."

Soldiers began to get up from the table as staff moved in to clear up after them (an unenviable job considering that the violent youths who formed the largest part of the Survey Corps could be quite messy; given the small amount of rations available, troops consumed their food with a ravenous fury only outmatched by the one with which they would dispatch titans).

"So, how's Carli doing? Is his arm recovering well?" Olivia asks Erna as they walked outside.

Erna delayed answering until all the soldiers were lined up, "Fine. He had his operation and won't be kicking back by the end of the month."

"Great! We'll be able to train with him in time for the next expedition." Olivia responded positively.

"Alright, training starts now," Erwin told the troops assembled before him, "we'll begin conditioning exercises...senior troops will lead them. It is important to ensure that every necessary muscle for titan combat is as developed as possible; in particular, lack of leg strength can prove fatal with regards to 3DMG use.

"Don't be alarmed if I single out individual soldiers for different training," he assured his soldiers, "this will simply be a more intensive test of one's abilities.

"Begin," he commanded, raising a hand before walking off to observe the training from a distance.

The moment they began, the soldiers began their conditioning exercises. Olivia and Erna were doing push ups as many times as they can. They kept up with each other, but on different views. Olivia looked as if she was having fun, while Daniella took it as a challenge too seriously. It was at the point where they challenged to push up their bodies and clap was where they draw the line. Erna fell to her chest after 3 tries while Olivia lasted a few more before she was down.

"Yep! Definitely need to work on timing...and a little on balance..."Olivia noted, before turning to Erna, "Doing alright, Erni?"

She only got her answer with a grunt for her.

 

"Mike," Erwin instructed, "the next soldier I want you to take aside is Olivia Dale."

"Do you mean the girl who killed several titans on her first expedition? That makes sense," Mike agreed.

Erwin scratched his head, immersed in his own thoughts. "She is skilled, and has much potential...however, she will need time and practice to refine her abilities. One day, who knows? She might be worthy enough to join one of the four squads."

Mike nodded. From what he'd seen of her work, Olivia was a fighter, and he thought Erwin had made the right call. Briskly, he approached Olivia's position.

Said cadet was lifting herself off the ground and offered to help Erna up, only to push her hand away.

"I can get my ass up myself..." Erna growled as she slowly heaved herself up on her own two feet and both saw Humanity's Second Strongest come over to them.

Mike nodded in greeting to Olivia, and the tall man said, "Olivia Dale, Commander Erwin has requested you see him. Come with me, please."

"Yes, sir!" Olivia responded with a nod, but before she made even a step she turned to Daniella, "But who will Erni go with? Carli's still not recovered from the battle."

"It's fine," Erna responded, voice somewhat hard and not as much reassuring, "I'll find someone else to train. Let the dog lead you to your master."

"Erni!" Olivia called out, but Erna continued to walk so all she could do was sigh and follow Mike.

As she walked however, she noticed him a little close to her in nose reach. I guess the reason Erna called him a dog were true. It wasn't long before they got to Erwin, who said, "Your abilities impressed me on yesterday's expedition, Dale, so we're going to test them."

"Abilities? Oh! Right...Well, what do you have in mind, Commander?" Olivia questioned. She was a little foggy on the subject due to her first try, but was curious on what was in store for her.

"Let us walk," Commander Erwin said, "Captain Zacharius' squad has everything ready in the forest. We are going to simulate titan attacks with projectiles; you will have to avoid them."

"Right!" Olivia answered, walking alongside the Commander, "Though I get the feeling it's not as simple as a walk in the wood...Oh well! That's the interesting part!"

* * *

Erwin soon reached the edge of the forest, and then fired a single green flare into the sky. On the other side of an expanse of trees, someone fired a yellow flare in response. "You have to reach the source of that flare," Erwin explained, "do it as quickly as you can, and try to avoid getting hit. I have soldiers stationed throughout the forest to observe how you cope, and also through projectiles at you. Don't worry about getting hurt; they're only pieces of wood."

"Tell me when you're ready, and you can begin. Good luck, Olivia Dale...how you fare in this environment will decide on where you are placed in the formation in future expeditions."

 _Okay, reach the source of flare as fast as_ _possible. I better watch out for those projectiles, too..._ Olivia instructed in her head before calling out as she focused forward, "Ready, Commander!"

"Off you go, then," Commander Erwin said, stepping aside so that her path would not be blocked by him, "good luck."

The moment the Commander was out of her line of direction, Olivia then took off, sprinting the course towards the source of the flare.

 _She is unlikely to disappoint,_ he reflected, _given her kill count in a single expedition. She's not the first soldier I've seen with such skill, and hopefully she won't be the last, but Olivia certainly stands out._

Running hadn't been much of a problem for Olivia. She ran around doing errands or delivering her carvings to her hometown residents and during her training was pretty much the only girl to last longer running. Olivia zoomed through the track but in the corner of her eye, she could've sworn she noticed a person close by.

It was then that a blunt (not sharp, so as not to cause serious damage) piece of wood was thrown in her general direction. Lauda felt horribly mean the first time he did this, and still felt a pang of guilt at doing it to someone who'd greatly assisted him in the last expedition, but this was a useful training exercise to refine one's evasion skills. The piece of wood was an imperfect, but adequate, representation of a previously unnoticed, rapidly moving hand of a titan, albeit on the small side.

Olivia looked back to see a wooden object thrown at the distance, she was quick to see it in time though and a swift dodge by leaning her upper body to the right as she ran. Safe to say the move was successful as she watched the projectile fly over her and she continued running once it was gone.

 _YES!_ Olivia cheered in her mind, _I dodged the first projectile! Maybe this will be simpler than I thought... for the beginning._

The second projectile soon followed, curving at an angle. This was due to the spin with which it was thrown by Gelgar, who stood crouched behind a tree, shrouded in shadows.

 _Second one! It's coming...in a curve?!_ Olivia saw the projectile come out in front and made the dodge. The move to dodge was close, resulting in the projectile skidding across her sin. If in real life, that would've left a mark, but that wasn't going to stop her. She continued as normal, not batting an eye at it.

The glancing hit was noted. If that had been a titan's hand, it would not have grabbed Olivia in all likelihood, but it would have knocked her off balance, causing a dangerous fall. This detail was observed, before the next trap was sprung. Two projectiles, one from either side of Olivia, being thrown at her simultaneously from twin sources. These had been thrown by Lynne and Henning, also of Mike's squad, who were camouflaged in the forest whilst wearing their cloaks.

Olivia, despite the hit still kept a close eye on the path and picking up her speed. As she did she managed to see the two projectiles zooming towards her. But she had noticed an opening between them and took the opportunity to bypass them. Luckily this time she made it without a scratch and focused on her path.

The next projectile was thrown from above Olivia's position, and would probably only be noticed by her when it was too late to avoid it. However, there was some room for manoeuvre; this object represented a previously unnoticed Titan reaching for a human from above, as they so often did.

Darius Verber-Braun recognised Olivia as soon as he'd thrown the wood. She was amongst the newcomers who had toppled a Titan yesterday while his squad was occupied dealing with other Titans attacking the main formation. Evidently, she'd earned her place here on the elite training course, and he was impressed that she'd got this far without being seriously hit.

Olivia, while running through the forest, heard the rustling and looked up to see another projectile heading above her. This reminded her of her personal up close literally to a titan on her expedition. A chill did ran up through her spine at that memory glimpse...but no. SHE WASN'T GOING TO FALL FOR THIS ONE! Doing a swift dodge in a little flip, she avoided the projectile by an inch. That's when she realized her error, not every enemy is as simple as they seem when coming to attack. Keeping an eye on it too long will take your eyes off the path and while focusing on the path, your blind to what comes out. Ration out the concentration on both things. That's how she'll ace the course.

The next piece of wood was thrown by a moving soldier: Luke Siss. He'd followed Olivia quietly at a distance for a very short time, unnoticed, before throwing his own projectile from a position to the left and from behind her. This meant that she could only notice it in her peripheral vision moments before it was due to hit her. _There's little chance she'll avoid that one,_ Luke mused as he threw the wood at her.

Looking in the distance, she could see that she was not too far from the flare's source. She could make it! She could actually do it. Then in mere moments, she saw the projectile fly towards her in the corner of her left eye. it was as it time stopped for her a moment, and she could see how it cut through the air. Acting quick, she leaned her left side over as far as she could and avoided the hit. Only to find that she did it too far and strained the left side of her body. Leaning back up, she felt pain on her upper left side, but her legs were still mobile, so like the hit she toughed it out and continued.

 

The flare was not far from her position now, but Olivia was (quite literally) not out of the woods yet. Captain Dita noticed that her left side seemed to be moving with slight difficulty as she flew towards, and then past, his position. _I didn't notice her being hit...perhaps she twisted something,_ he reflected, _let's test how she handles it._

He duly threw another hefty piece of wood at her left side, wanting to see how well she operated when she was injured.

Once she became injured a little. Olivia focused a little bit more on her left side, as it had just become one of her weaknesses. So when she saw the projectile heading towards her, she cursed in her thoughts. She knew the enemy wouldn't be fair. But while her left side was stiff to move, she still bad her legs and her right side. Doing a swift turn, facing backwards she used her right side to avoid the hit. It was a success but a close call. Once dodging it, she switched back around and continued to run the course.

Nanaba, who was crouched beneath Olivia's position, tried a different tactic, throwing a piece of wood up towards her position, rather than from above or from her side.

Heading forward, Olivia squinted her eyes to see a projectile towards her position upfront. That would mean she would be hit head on in she didn't do anything now. While the path was dirty, obviously since its pure ground, it was somewhat smooth a little. This may dirty her jeans, but they say that's what's included in some challenges. Falling to her knees, she skidded on the earth, held her arms out and leaned back. The wood hurdled over her almost hitting her nose, but she kept her eye on it as it passed her vision before shooting back up and continuing her path.

The last throw was made by Captain Mike himself. This particular projectile could not be seen, but it could be heard, and the air currents around it could be felt, if one was very sensitive and alert. It would be Olivia's greatest challenge yet to avoid a strike that she did not see coming, but it was crucial to test this ability in case one was ambushed by a titan.

Olivia could see the source of the flare within a few feet. She was actually going to get there without anything serious. But she soon started to hear and feel the air currents in the tips of her fingers, yet when she turned around, she couldn't see anything.

_What?! How? Where's the projectile if it's not- UGH!_

A shot came flying towards her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and no doubt leaving a red mark under her uniform. She toppled over backwards, her left side coming contact with the ground, causing her to tumble and crash.

 _NO! I was so close...!_ Olivia thought, how could she muck up when the end was in reach. Her fall has come from after her pride.

 _A fall,_ Mike noted, _let's see how quickly she gets back up again. She's got an exceptionally good record for today's exercise, and finishing it quickly will improve on that._

Olivia coughed as she was regaining her breath, looking over to the destination of the flare. Maybe she wasn't as strong and capable as she once thought, but that only fuelled the determination to become stronger, no way she's backing down! She thought about this as she used both her two hands to push herself up, even if her left side hurt.

_I'll continue...for Gwen...my sister!_

With that she lifted herself with her two hands and was up on her feet around five seconds as she made a burst of speed to get to the flare. As she said before, who cares about what hits she'll receive and have received, she'll take it all for _her_.

 

When Olivia reached the flare, nothing happened at first. A series of soft footfalls broke the silence, as Erwin walked out of a nearby copse of trees to reach the flare gun on the ground, from which coloured smoke was rising softly. "Congratulations, Dale," he said, his face betraying little emotion, "you made it to this place in excellent time. We shall see how you fared when a report is compiled."

Olivia turned to the footsteps and saluted when she saw the Commander. When told she made it with excellent timing, she made a smile that she always made when she laughed, but her brows furrowed with determination and eagerness, "Thanks sir! I'll look forward to hearing about them myself!" surprisingly enough it... suited her.

"You can go back to training now," Erwin said, "I will contact you later to discuss your report with you. You are now dismissed."

"Yes sir!" Olivia obeyed with her salute before rushing back off to join back up with her group, only catching a small glimpse of Mike jogging over to Erwin's position, a number of soldiers from the forest following him with notepads, on which were written observations of Olivia's performance in this exercise.

"Erni! You wouldn't believe what I had to-"

"Yeah, yeah! Now hurry up, we have to run laps," Erna informed her, getting herself ready.

From a training session she had before, announcing that you have laps to run, would of made anyone groan, but Olivia only seemed mildly shocked but was replaced with a smile,"...Okay! Let's go!" Olivia responded, as if it didn't phase her and causing Erna to become shocked.

"Really?" Erna could only get that one word out.

The olive eyed girl nodded, "Yep! If there's more to do, there's just as more that will be done!"

 _How the hell can she be so...chipper?! She just done special training and she want's more? Workaholic dead carver..._ Erna thought bitterly with a small glare.

 


	9. Olivia: Chapter 8 - When Ivi met Gwenie

The soldiers had been running laps until later in the noon. They had lunch break sure, but after they did a few more laps to burn the calories, they now engaged hand to hand combat. Carlin was watching from the side as they spared. Sure, he still had his injured arm, but he was still able to walk about. And with his brain he helped out a little in the special training for Erwin...maybe that was his strength? Thinking. As the days went on, he noticed Erna and Olivia being different. Olivia was getting quite better, moving with grace, yet Erna seemed forcing herself. What was going on with her?

 _Damnit! Can't I just get one chance! She keeps showing off in front of Carli_ Erna thought, as she tried to strike Olivia.

 _Wow, I never knew Erni could be this strong with her attacks. She must be using her motivation in going so._ Olivia said in her mind, oblivious to the real reason.

Then, Erna made one hard attack that made Olivia drop one of her swords. But she didn't give her barely any time to pick it up, so Olivia continued to battle with one sword.

"Okay, Erni chill! Let me pick up my sword so we can fight fair!" Olivia said, as she dodged and attacked, but struggled to retrieve her other blade.

"Fighting is never fair, Oli!" Erna growled as she swung.

"But can't it be fair for this?!" Olivia responded, as she ducked one of her attacks.

Erna didn't listen however as she continued to try and hit Olivia. Carlin, seeing it was going out of hand went to stop Erna with his good hand, however this caused her to turn around to swipe the person who snuck up on her and while her eyes widened, her attacks kept going. Olivia however was instantly reactant to who it was going o hit and shielded Carlin, grabbing holding out her own hand to stop the blow. That was a close call for the both of them, or else Carlin would've lost an arm. Not even looking at her leaking wound, Olivia looked into Erna's eyes, now with confusion.

"Erni? What's wrong? These past few days, you've been a little harsh towards me...Have you forgotten we three promised to live?" Olivia questioned.

"I haven't, but have you?! Ever since that first expedition, you've been focusing on how long you'll last than keeping that promise to live. You're even making Carlin praise you! How long will that be before he takes a hit like yours himself?!" Erna exclaimed.

Olivia however, while it's clear for her concern to him, sounds like its too much.

"Erni...aren't you going a bit too extreme on that?" Olivia tipped her head in confusion, "I know you're concerned on Carli, even I am, but you seem big about this thing than me."

"Extreme! Look who's talking when Petra who offered to take those wooden dolls for you." Erna reminded, spilling the beans on what was supposed to be secret

"You said she would be fine since she's in Levi's Squad!" Olivia reminded, not with anger in her tone.

"You still made a dumb decision in letting someone else do your dirty work! Haven't you done this before?!" Daniella retorted, "Or are you secretly shameful since you didn't protect those you carve out!"

Olivia didn't speak at that, nor did she give a reaction.

"Oh...so that's it, isn't it?" Erna assumed, "You thought the guilt will subside from joining the Corps, but that's all futile...Now your just waiting to die so you won't have to carve the dead anymore and leave your sister! Face it, Workaholic Dead Carver; **_A soldier's promise can never be fulfilled!_** "

 

 

 

That was too far. Olivia then kicked Erna so hard that her blood came pouring out of her mouth and she held her down towards the bloody puddle that formed in the grass. Even when the red liquid continued to flow, Olivia didn't move her opponent's head. As Erna lay gasping, every cadets jaws almost hit the ground with what she did.

"Would you care to explain to me what is going on here, soldiers?"

Hearing that familiar voice Olivia gasped, sharply looking over to see Erwin demanding an answer, "I'm sorry, Commander. I don't know what came over me to go this far," she answered, but she kept an expressionless face and stared at him instead of the ground.

Erna was helped up by Carlin, still trying to catch her breath back as she wiped her mouth from the blood.

"You are soldiers," Erwin said sternly, "you have watched people die around you. You've killed, too, haven't you? All three of you have killed titans. You are supposed to be united; on the battlefield, disunity will kill you."

He turned his back on them, saying, "Clear up this mess, don't do it again, report to the infirmary if you have serious injuries...I expect my soldiers to act like adults, not bickering toddlers." Somehow, his tone seemed all the more condescending, authoritative and crushing when he didn't bother to meet their gaze. "Is that clear, troops?" he asked them.

"Yes, sir!" the three cadets answered in unison.

"Very well," Erwin said, "continue your training. If you do this again, you will be cleaning out the stables for a week.

 

"...Honestly, I wouldn't mind stable duty." Olivia plainly admits.

"Oli!" Carlin exclaimed, surprised she would say such a thing.

"Stop trying to overwork yourself!" Erna exclaims.

"Okay! Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Olivia apologized, "And for the record, yes Erni a soldier's promise can't be fulfilled, but that doesn't give an excuse to not try the best we can."

"Maybe we should talk about this alone..." Charlie suggested, with Erna held up with his one good arm.

"...Yeah. You two do that."

Olivia watched Carlin and Erna walk away to the infirmary and until they were gone had closed her eyes in shame and sighed through her nose.

"I do not say this because I despite you: quite the opposite." Erwin spoke to Olivia, making her turn her head to him, "I admire you and I am proud of what you did in the most recent expedition. All I want is for you to maintain the standards that defined that mission both on and off the battlefield."

Taking the words in Olivia could only of after Erwin started walking off to observe the cadets with Levi and Hange, putting her all alone to think about what happened.

* * *

It was now turning sunset and all the cadets were inside...well all except one. Olivia had been outside since her dinner was finished. Not seeing Daniella and Charlie...again...this was the only thing she had on her mind. She swung her blades at the tree, even giving it a few kicks from her legs. She even put her attacks full force, but on the last attempt, she lost balance and fell. Lifting herself up, she ran her hand through her hair as sweat trickled down her forehead. At least no one was around seeing her. Whenever she snuck out or did her work, she always did it shirtless when alone. When someone came, she put herself fully apparelled if they needed her for something.

Other people had rumoured on Olivia's physical stature, even if she was oblivious or obvious she wasn't tubby, but they never succeeded in getting an answer other than Daniella. Letting out a long sigh, she leaned against the tree as the sun began to go down.

"Maybe they're right...I'm probably working myself to the bone..." Olivia voiced what she was thinking out loud, remembering what had happened, "But that's all I've known to do..." she then experienced her own flashbacks of her labour: bringing back firewood, shopping, doing errands, chores, carving out the dead...her parents did help out too, but...when she had to take care of Gwen, her parents became more paranoid that they kept to their own chores when it involved her little sister. But she fully believed they grew fond of Gwen and didn't want her to be discriminated.

 

A snapping of a twig caught her ears and Olivia would've grabbed her swords if faced with an animal. But to her surprise it was Petra standing before her.

"Sorry if I intruded on you," she apologised, "I heard sounds in the forest and was curious."

"Was I really that loud?" Olivia questioned as she lifted herself off and retrieving her top and jacket from the branch.

"Well, cutting down trees is pretty noisy," Petra pointed out, "but I only heard it because I was walking through this part of the woods anyway."

Olivia could only hum in response after she was fully clothed. She then looked off at the sunset in her thoughts...well the orange sky more or less.

"Why were you doing it, by the way? Was it for the sake of your carvings?" Petra asked Olivia.

"If you mean the fact I attacked Daniella, I don't know..." Olivia shrugs, "I honestly thought it would give comfort and stop the grieving families for giving the Corps more hell...But it didn't feel the same when it came to going out there myself..."

"Ah, no, that's not what I meant," Petra said, raising her hands apologetically, "I'm sorry for being so ambiguous. I meant, are you cutting this wood to make your carvings? I assume this is where you get your supply."

"No...I mainly came to the woods for just to think to myself, plus there won't be an expedition in the next few weeks," Olivia answered, "And for a bit of training to myself."

She paused for a while when the thought of Gwen came into her mind. She could've kept quiet about this, but Petra didn't judge her for her carvings and had assisted her. Besides...not many people lived in the Corps, so her _promise_

"...Back before my decision to become a soldier...I made a promise a long time ago." Olivia answered after a few moments of silence, "This isn't about the wood...just something else." she added, taking out a piece of cloth from her shirt pocket. It was a teal colour, a bit more greener and had a 12 sided star, half of their points were white along with a small circle and it's outlines surrounded by another circle.

"What's that?" Petra asked, eyes widening in curiosity at the sight of the exotically crafted cloth. It seemed to be an emblem of some sort, but she hadn't the faintest idea what it was supposed to represent.

"...A part of a clue that my sister kept by her side ever since. Carlin suspected it came from Sina," Olivia answered, staring down at it solemnly, "At least those rich swine had some care for her. I can't see any other parent wrapping their own baby with a rag unless there's no choice."

"I see," Petra said, crossing her arms and fixing the family insignia with a puzzled glance. "So you're telling me that your sister - adopted, I presume - was given up by her parents involuntarily. That's awful."

"That's what I assume. It's been over a decade since that day..." Olivia began.

* * *

_**Year 837: Trost District, Wall Rose (10 Years Ago)** _

**_"Olivia, bless you for making this in honour of my son..." An elderly woman thanked graciously from her rocking chair, clutching the wooden figure of a man in his 30's._ **

**_"No worries!" A cheerful early teen Olivia responded, smiling while her eyes supported her current mood, "I'm sure his wife and children will be happy to see it once they return. Anyway, I better get back home. It's getting dark and very breezy. Take care Mrs Oberst!"_ **

_"It was just like any usual day for me. I had been doing my hobby for some time then and the locals mostly appreciated what I did for them. My parents had gone out that day, so they left me in charge of the home, though everyone seemed to stay indoors of the comfort of their home, or get drunk."_

_**Olivia rubbed her hands as she treaded through the streets, blowing on them to heat them from the chance of frostbite, but when she reached the door of her house...she could hear a faint sound of crying. At first, she thought it was coming from her neighbour's door, but as she passed the possible houses who may of had a young kid, it got even louder the moment she reached to her home. Her eyes, one that usually held much cheer widened in surprise, shock and horror as she gazed at the unexpected package on her doorstep.** _

_"That's when I first laid eyes on her..."_

_**Running forward, she knelt down, skidding across the snowy surface the second she saw a pale skinned frail white hand reach up from out of the bundle. She picked the wailing infant, that was wrapped tightly in the teal silky blanket with black swirls that surrounded a white circle, guarding a 12 pointed half shaded star with a smaller circle in the middle. Within seconds, Olivia had dashed into her house and was chucking a dozen of firewood in the fireplace. Lighting a fire with her trusty carving knife, she ignited the flames and soon after the baby began to stop crying, it's shivering whimpers subsiding. Now it was easier to get a closer look at the child and she had discovered something new she'd never thought to see.** _

_"I'd never seen anything like her; she was like a polished doll all in herself. Snowy white hair, pale skin and rose red irises...I knew then she was going to be the most important person in my life. When my parents finally came back...they were more surprised than I expected. I didn't want the baby to be sent to the orphanage, because if that was an option there would be no need for her to be here. I made myself responsible for her, taking care of her the full day I found her. However when my parents told the townspeople...they didn't really seemed that thrilled."_

**_As Olivia prepared some warm milk for Gwen,_ ** **_said infant was pulling on the side of her ponytail while making all those random yet adorable sounds, which made the young teen laugh in return. Her parents however remained solemnly silent, becoming more idle. Olivia passed that off as having nothing to do, which happened at times but it was never usually this quiet and while she believed it was the fact of only finding Gwen in one day, she was oblivious to the quick glances at the door they kept on giving. After Gwen had her fill, a loud knock on the door broke the silence but before either adult could answer, Olivia walked towards the door with Gwen, wrapped up in the blanket she was first wrapped in._ **

**_"Be right there!" she called out as she made her way to the door, however when she turned the handle, the reveal left her speechless._ **

_"When I opened the door, the Military Police stood by the doorstep not alone. I saw the whole population of the town in the form of an angry mob, along with those robed preachers. All because they were paranoid of an innocent baby girl..."_

**_"Burn that white witch to the stake!"_ **

**_"Kill the snow demon!"_ **

**_"She's probably the reason they failed! She took my child!"_ **

**_"_ ** **_Send her to the gallows! Who cares if it's a baby?! It's a bad omen among us!"_ **

_**"...I CARE!"** _

**_Her outburst silenced the whole mob. They were surprised how a bright optimistic teen like Olivia Dale would give off such a voice and such a firm angry expression. Seeing their mouths clamped shut, Olivia began to continue, "I care. Do you know why? Because I think it's pathetic that everyone in this town I wanted to help through their grief, even some of you who want to believe this fib, are targeting an innocent infant for something they didn't do by speculating she caused whatever happened because of her existence? What the hell is wrong with you people?! All your accusations will just turn her into who you unexpectedly want her to be! If you don't want that, then stop being a bunch of LACKING BACKBONE DUMMIES! AND LET HER LIVE A LIFE LIKE ANY OTHER WOULD WANT!"_ **

_"It disgusted me...how people can be so close minded. _I stared back at_ _her the moment she cooed right back at me. There was No crying, no struggling...she just stared. After my parents bid them goodnight, I promised her I'd be by her side forever. I watched her grow over the years, with other kids being uncomfortable about her, but we mostly stuck together like glue. Yet I had always wondered where she came from. I knew she did too from the very beginning. Once she knew about the Corps and that they can go both in and out of the walls, we relied on each other to find out what made her end up on my doorstep and she trusted me in getting a head start. Given the fact a lot of my family became soldiers for the Corps in the past I accepted. That's what brought me here as a soldier."__

* * *

 

When Olivia finished her story, Petra was sat with her in the mess hall along with Erna and Carlin, who he made her intended to apologize Olivia for but never knew this would wind up in a story...a heart wrenching, yet warming story. Even some soldiers that lingered after dark came to listen with a handful of them crying or shedding a tear.

"I...I..." Petra began, completely stunned by the tale, "I don't know what to say..."

Pity filled her eyes, and she remarked, "That was a good thing for you to do...perhaps the walls have insulated people and thus made them more small-minded than they ought to be."

"Yeah...which gives us more of a reason to fight for this cause." Olivia pointed out, after a long sigh.

"Did you join the Survey Corps for the sake of this sister?" Petra asked, starting to put the pieces together within her mind, "is that what keeping that emblem on your person was about?"

Olivia nodded, "I hold her with high regard since I saved her. And she's always looked up to me. It's only going to stay that way if I become one of the best soldiers I can be. Everything I do now is all for her...All for _Gwen_."

 _So she wants to be her sister's role model,_ Petra realised, _evidently, she cares about her family a lot to put her life on the line simply to provide her sibling with exemplary behaviour._

"So you want your sister to join the military too?" Petra asked. It was a noble aspiration, but not one she'd be willing to coerce her loved ones into adopting for themselves. Life in the Survey Corps was hard, and often far too short. Anybody who'd been on a few expeditions knew this all too well, and many felt guilty for inspiring others to follow them into the jaws of death.

"She clings around me more often to not even let that be a question," Olivia answers, "I'm not staying on the side-lines like the Garrisons...and the MPs are as spoiled as the noble swine."

A group of soldiers actually laughed at what she said, because in a way it's true.

"If you are prepared to accept that one or both of you may die during your time spent in this organisation, so be it," Petra responded, "it's a honourable cause, but a dangerous one."

She smiled warmly, and continued, "That's not to say that you have to accept certain death...we could win, you know. We might just manage to in the next few years."

Eld, who was sitting nearby, said nothing of that but was somewhat sceptical. He did not think that humanity had more than a negligible chance of victory: he only fought because he believed that it was the right thing to do.

"Well, one things for sure, there's no going back. There's no such thing as something for nothing when your a fighter, so we continue to not let those lost lives be worthless."

"That's true," Petra replied, "still, have you considered discussing this with your sister?"

"So, you're still implying the dead stay dead?" Erna muttered, still by Carlin side, "You're hopeless, Oli."

"I don't really need to. And what do you mean, Erna?" Olivia demanded, "Is this about the fight from before because I-"

"No. It's the fact you don't believe in souls watching over you. You view dead soldiers as trash you hate to see thrown away. You can still make them wooden figures but if you still think that people just stay dead then those wooden figures hold no value in the first place." Daniella explained.

Olivia gasped. That...actually was a clear point.

"Okay, then why were you fighting me?"

Erna and Carlin looked at each other, then away from Olivia, a blush present on their faces.

"I'll be going back to my room. I don't want to oversleep on cleaning duty." Olivia replied, heading off to her room.

Gunther and Eld were engaged deeply in conversation amongst themselves with Petra, and thus left Carlin and Erna to their own devices.

"Shouldn't we tell about what we spoke about?" Carlin questioned.

"No...She's too oblivious not to know...And it's for the best." Erna answered, her hand on his.

 

 

 


	10. Olivia: Chapter 9 - A Sign To A Saint

The next morning, Olivia woke herself up and stretched her arms out while doing so. She didn't realise until recently after climbing of her bed that she was up early this time, as Daniella continued to snooze. Deciding to head off for a shower before cleaning duty, she made her way there. Afterwards, she emerged from taking care of her hygiene, her top part of her body exposed with the exception of her bra. Her towel was draped around her soldiers, catching droplets of her dampened hair. As she was walking back to her room, she didn't notice a male was in distance. Hearing the sound of another person's footsteps however, she turned her head to see the Commander up and carrying reports. Once realizing, she did the trademark salute having her hand that went to the front right above her chest.

"Good morning, Commander!" she greeted, like she normally would when on duty.

"Good morning," Erwin replied, trying to hide the tiredness from his voice. He'd pulled an all-nighter - again - to deal with these blasted reports, but they always seemed to find new and ingenious ways of cropping up. "I trust you rested well?"

"Yes, Sir! I went to rest for cleaning duty. Guess I woke up for it too early out of eagerness!" Olivia laughed, before eying the reports, "Wow, looks like you have your hands full."

"I always do," he said with a small smile,"By the way, I ought to congratulate you on your performance during that test a few days ago," he mentioned, "your specialised training will continue."

"Thank you, sir! I am glad to hear the results! Even though I couldn't spot the last one...and I got hit in the cheek which would've left a scar," Olivia recalled, touching her cheek a little, "But hey, scars are better than stumps, right?"

"Perhaps that is so," Erwin replied, "it is better to receive peripheral damage than that which affects one's abilities."

Olivia nodded, but from looking at the stack of reports, she may as well warm up for cleaning duty, "You don't mind if I offer to help, right? I could use a start for working mood, but I'll accept refusal, even if not an order."

"These concern details of gear supplies and such like," Erwin said with a faint, apologetic smile, "I don't think you know, or would want to know, all of the accounts we have to deal with as an organisation. Besides, I wouldn't inflict such a tedious task on you. I may be a strict commander from time to time, but I'm not that bad."

"Really? I thought you were one to have soldiers face the truth?" Olivia replied, adding on, "And I've had my fair share of tedious when it came to chores in the past."

"The truth is," Erwin admitted, "that we're always close, and always have been, to bankruptcy. Anyway, I wouldn't want to bore you with the fine details of the many ways in which we are broke. I simply have to fend the lawyers off."

"Please, I'm faced with boredom all the time. With wood and All work, rare play," Olivia confides, "And...I don't think a branch getting close to living off air, yet still stay strong against the enemy is boring at all. It proves we are capable of what the other two branches don't or have much of."

Erwin laughed quietly. "Your words are true...but such frankness would not go down well if you told that to the MPs, I think," he observed.

"Yeah, they're as spoiled as the noble swine. Thinking they're in safe haven with their base being in Sina," Olivia mutters, "But I make exceptions when I see them with my own eyes. Speaking of which, when will the Corps return there?" Olivia asked, olive eyes glinting with a hint of interest while rubbing the towel on her head.

"What, to Sina?" Erwin asked, knowing he probably ought to have left by now but feeling somewhat compelled to stay for reasons he had not fully considered yet.

"We tend to go outside the walls, not into them," he remarked, "the only time the full membership heads into there is if there's an existential threat to our organisation, usually posed by the government. Of course, if a titan were to get inside there somehow, we would no doubt be deployed in Sina, but if that were to happen, I expect it would be the end of the walled world for humanity."

"Really?" Olivia responded with a sigh of disappointment through the top she was slipping on, knowing it would take a miracle or in this case a disaster to go there, "What a downpour...But are you really sure on going alone? I don't plan on spending free time being idle."

"Well, I'm not going there right now," Erwin said, "I only report occasionally to Sina myself. If you need to go there, I'm sure I can put in a good word with the Sina border authorities for when you're on leave."

Olivia shook her head, as she put her Survey Corps jacket on, "No, I don't plan on going there just yet. They won't take lightly to an ordinary cadet. Well, what they think is an ordinary cadet. But I'm still referring to the stack of reports. It would for the least make up the time I'm wasting then and now."

"You can accompany me if you want to," Erwin said, "but I really can handle this, honestly."

"If you say so...then I'll go with you," Olivia concluded, walking with him, "Can't have a man like you collapse on the way there."

"All of us are, Commander," Olivia replied, "we're not expected to be immortal, neither truly invincible. But you're irreplaceable, sir! I don't think anyone's ever had a Commander to look up to more than you!"

"There have been plenty before me, and there will be plenty after until the Survey Corps is no longer required," Erwin replied, "I am only the 13th in a long line of leaders.

"Still," he said with a warm smile, "I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you, Olivia."

 _Is that the first time he called me by my name...?_ Olivia thought, her eyes seemed a little widened with a slightly parted mouth, before doing her trademark laughing smile, "You're welcome, Commander Smith!"

 

 

Commander Smith approached the small room he called his office, realising that Olivia reminded him of someone. He couldn't quite put his finger on who it was yet, but it was someone he'd known long ago.

"Well, here we are," he said, stepping to the doorway and opening it, "please, take a seat."

"Yes, Commander." Olivia with a nod, going to sit on one of the chairs. She was surprised on how many reports there were. Poor guy...

There were two chairs on either side of his desk, which was already littered with reports that had yet to be filled in. It was clear that he still had significant progress to make with regards to dealing with this administration work.

Erwin sat down opposite Olivia, retrieving his pen from a drawer and beginning to scribble down various details on reports required to satisfy government officials and debtors.

As her commander continued to work, Olivia took her time to observe his office a little. This was her first time here...but it might be useful to know her surroundings.

Within a few minutes, Erwin had completed many reports, being surprisingly efficient in his efforts due to the sheer volume of paperwork he'd had to deal with on past occasions. "I won't keep you here for much longer," he said to Olivia with a small smile, "I'm nearly done."

"That's good to hear, Commander. I won't question on if there's anything else you need to do afterwards, but if not you deserve the free time!" Olivia answered, feeling relieved when he said that.

As Erwin arrived at the last batch of reports, he felt internal relief at recognising how little there was left of his work. He worked out how far he'd gotten because he had progressed to the donors list: a number of forms that had to be signed verifying that various donations to the Survey Corps had been dealt with. There were few - too few, in Erwin's opinions - sums of money being given to this branch of the military, and he would have gladly dealt with a few hours' more work if it was devoted to a larger pile of donation verification paperwork.

The form he was currently signing was to verify the latest donation made by Mercer Morgernstern. The Commander noticed that this man never gave particularly large amounts of money to the Corps, but he gave it regularly to them, so it was better than nothing.

Olivia's smile suddenly became slightly parted one which let out a small gasp of recognition when she noticed something familiar on one of the reports. A twelve sided, half-point shaded star guarded in a circle with a smaller circle in the middle.

 _It's that symbol!_ Olivia exclaimed in her thoughts, making her think back to the extraction of Gwen's baby blanket she held onto, _The same symbol on Gwen's blanket! Finally, something else to go by!_

"Is something up?" Erwin asked politely with a smile. She seemed to have noticed something, although the commander saw nothing out of the ordinary.

 _Damn it, Olivia...What do I do? I didn't think he'd noticed..._ Olivia thought, _I should say nothing's wrong. It's only Gwen and mine's goal, I can't bring Commander Smith into this with it nothing to do with him and also being hard at work. Maybe if I could obtain it somehow and read it while he's not looking? ...What the hell am I thinking?! I'm supposed to be a loyal soldier going up the ranks to get myself out of situations I come across along the way! I do a criminal offence and my promise with Gwen and my life will go down the drain in a Military Police cell!_

"If you want to talk about it later, that it fine with me," Erwin said, finishing the report and putting it to one side. _Her reaction_ _could well be something to do with Mercer,_ he realised, _I must make enquiries surrounding that man later. I need to know what connections he has, if any, with my soldiers, besides donations._

"Yeah! I think I should head off for breakfast. I need the energy to keep going throughout the day." Olivia answered.

"Very well, then," Erwin said, "you're right. Talk to me later if you need anything." He pushed the stack of completed reports to one side, his work now almostdone.

"I'll be heading off to breakfast too, actually," he said, "I only have a little more work to deal with her, but feel free to leave now; I mustn't slow you down."

"If it's not too much trouble for you, then thank you, Commander!" Olivia thanked before heading out the door.

Erwin waved goodbye, before settling down to complete the last batch of reports on his desk.

* * *

After breakfast, Olivia was stationed in cleaning a room with Carlin. While Olivia did her work well, she still couldn't help but think about that symbol on one of the reports.

"Hey, Oli? Are you okay?" Carlin asked, "you seem spaced out recently. Even when you were eating you kept looking forward."

"I'm alright!" Olivia reassured with her cheerful smile, "just thinking over about a few things. That's all."

Carlin accepted her answer with relief, but then asked her a question, "Hey...is it necessary to always remove your, uh, upper clothes when working?"

Hearing that, Olivia turned around with her hands on her hips, exposing her covered bra and building abs.

"It's less bothersome when given long work. And I do the same when training alone," Olivia explained, "I still don't get why men feel free to be shirtless and why women can't at least do what I do and wear underclothes less revealing."

_I guess she really is oblivious..._

"But if it makes you look less awkward, I'll slip it on once Erni comes by so she won't become angry at me again." Olivia assured.

Carlin had a blush to his cheeks when Erna's nickname came about. Good thing she was oblivious as he would've flailed about, falsely denying.

"Alright, let's move," Darius told the soldiers at the breakfast tables in the mess hall, "another day, another training session."

"Well, that's our que! I hope it's done well," said Carlin, "I don't wanna have to get dragged back in here by the Captain Levi."

 

The squads left first, setting off to begin training early with their captains. Then, the main body of soldiers followed them out onto the fields, ready to prepare for combat with the Titans for another day. Heading outside Olivia left Carlin to Erna, who were then talking to each other about what was going on.

"Hey, Olivia! We're doing 3DMG gear training. Joining?" A soldier asked.

"Okay! Last one to that tree's in the jaws of a titan!" Olivia called out instantly, getting a head start.

"So, Oluo, what do you think of the new kids on the block?" Gunther asked his friend whilst training with him, "do you think they're any good?"

"Some of them will doe right away," Olou sniffed, looking blatantly at some of the younger soldiers, "while others," he glanced pointedly at Olivia, "seem to have at least some skill." He jumped to take flight as well, but tripped over a stray rock and fell, biting his tongue.

"Wow, I didn't expect you'd be second by a small amount of time, Olivia."

"Well...First the worst, Second the best!" Olivia joked, causing the group, even the winner to laugh.

At the corner of her eye, she noticed Ouro in pain holding his mouth. Did he bit his tongue? She heard about him being clumsy and his imitation of Captain Levi, but that's the first time she's seen him bite his tongue.

"Are you alright?" Olivia asked him out of concern, even though he'll probably be back to his previous copying state.

"Ow...pw...damnit," Olou cusses (whined) getting up. "Yes..I'm ok...ow.."

"He does that a lot," Gunther said frankly to Olivia, "it is really nothing to worry about. He's probably got more scars on his tongue than I have on my whole body, though."

"Hush," Olou said hotly, pride more injured than his tongue would ever be hurt.

Olivia then grabbed hold of his chin, taking out a clean white cloth she never got to use on cleaning and took his surprised expression to put it in his mouth. While doing so, her olive eyes were staring at his eyes with concerned tenderness and no annoyance of even knowing he had done the same thing constantly."

"Don't speak too much about it. Just be careful next time, okay?!" she then replied with her cheerful laughing smile and zoomed off on her gear.

Olou looked after her, eyes shining. "What a saint," he said with wonder, mouth agape and starry eyed.

"Have you found yourself a new idol, Oluo?" Gunther asked him quietly, "first Levi, and then this! A new recruit, of all people."

"Q-quiet!" Olou stuttered, his cheeks growing slightly red.

 

Meanwhile, Olivia swiped one of the titan dummies, and it left a deep gaping cut as a result. As Carlin said, it wasn't the same. They were mainly idle and did nothing but expose the nape, unlike those real ones that could grab you or jump at you. Nevertheless, she still continued. She had slashed a few more napes with a vertical spin, however one comrade nearly knocked her over but she was quick to dodge. The cadet apologized as she flew off but Olivia shouted back to her that it was fine.

As she flew through the trees, she caught glimpses of Daniella and Charlie...holding each other close. It got her off the point she didn't notice what she was colliding into. Suddenly, she extended the use of the wire of her 3dmg and ended up falling front first onto the ground. Lifting herself up, she dusted away the excess grass that clung to her uniform. Not wanting to use her 3DMG to travel back, Olivia decided to walk. It was fun no doubt , but using it all the time just for transport with no danger can come across as being lazy.

Looking back, she could see Daniella and Charlie still together, but not embracing each other anymore. She didn't want to talk to them about it, after all it was just between them. Looking around, she saw Levi's Squad and did a wave with her smile, not caring about any of the grass stains on her uniform.

Gunther waved back, and smirked at Oluo. "First impressions matter," he said nonchalantly, as if the remark was simply off-hand rather than inferring anything.

Olou made a sound of frustration. "You all are so annoying," he snapped, waving to Olivia as he tried to lean against a heavy tree. He missed it, however, and fell backwards, the air being knocked its for his lungs.

Olivia gasped as he hell backwards...well it wasn't as bad as getting bitten on the tongue. She let out a laugh afterwards with her hand to her mouth, trying to stop it to not make him feel too bad. It then came time for Olivia to go back on her duty for cleaning and she wasted no effort returning to her next room to clean after that. She even took great care of not making more mess by taking off her shoes so she wouldn't leave a muddy trail. She was certain it was be relieving for Captain Levi.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, during playing out the scenes my friend had this hilarious idea of making Oluo have a crush on Olivia, but being a demisexual and oblivious for the sake o her sister, it goes unrequited! XD


	11. Olivia: Chapter 10 - Her Second Expedition

Her second Expedition.

Time sure flies by doesn't it, even if many thought the time was somewhat slow.

Olivia was petting her horse with Carlin and Erna, having their usual chatter until Charlie mentions Olivia having Squad Leader potential.

"Carli, we've been here for two months! This is our second expedition and you think I have the skill?!" Olivia questioned, quite surprised.

"Yeah, Oli! You took down titans while telling others what to do. And you heard them, right?! They had the least casualties since a long time!" Carlin answered.

"Squad Leader Olivia? A little long, but I'd choose that over the rest," Erna called up.

"But what about Captain Levi? And Hange's not too bad," Olivia reminded.

"If you call that titan obsessed scientist bitch, who threatens you with being their own lab rat not too bad, then you're braver than me," Erna responded, "And I'm not obeying clean freak any day, not with that woman on it anyway."

"Erni, I'm sure she didn't take it the right way. Even I'm not sure what she was going on about..." she lied at her last sentence, despite it being reluctant, "We'll clear it up when we see her. After all, we planned on surviving together, right?"

"Yeah!" Carlin and Erna both chorused.

"Come on! We can't be late!" Olivia told her two friends, climbing on their horses and making them trot over to the others.

 

"The 30th expedition beyond the walls is about to begin," Darius Baer-Varbrun announced, his voice booming across the length and breath of the formation, "prepare yourselves."

As on queue Olivia got into formation with Erna and Carlin, preparing themselves for the gates to open. The gate to the outside world raised slowly, letting in the light of day but promising the darkness of death in the hours to come.

"Let the 30th expedition beyond Wall Rose begin!" Erwin exclaimed, before spurring his horse into action. As one, the entire formation followed him to the land beyond civilisation.

Olivia's horse charged first, followed by Erna and Carlin's. All three ready to face their enemies once again.

* * *

The formation was let off relatively easily by the titans on their way out of the walled kingdom, only encountering, and then evading, a few of the lumbering giants as they progressed towards the town they wanted to secure; this one was a bit further out than the one seized on the last expedition: in fact, it was the next settlement along Erwin's planned supply line from Rose to Maria.

"Well...this'll test my patience," Erna muttered, as she rode with others.

"Looks like the road is longer than the last. Not only that...Looks like the weather's going to change," Carlin pointed out, looking at the dark clouds.

"Aw, don't let it effect the mood!" Olivia reassured, "We can finish this before it starts to pour!"

Soon enough, the next town came into the Survey Corps' vision. However, the range of this sight was shrinking; mist was thickening around them, and the environment was growing harsher and more hostile to their aims here.

 _It's like in Levi's first expedition,_ Erwin realised as he thought about the weather, _if it continues to deteriorate like this, we will find ourselves in a situation with poor visibility, and that will make this mission exponentially more dangerous._

_A loud thunder resided in the air, giving of a speck of light forming inside the cloud. Maybe Olivia was wrong about getting it done before the storm swept in..._

"Attention!" Darius roared to the troops in the formation, having been instructed to do so earlier by Erwin. His words were relayed gradually outwards by runners amongst the formation. His words were: "Remain close - do not go into long-range formation yet. The weather is too rough for that sort of thing. If a titan attacks, deal with it quickly or the densely packed groups of soldiers will be at high risk of death."

Olivia nodded, keeping an eye on her surroundings in case a titan popped up out of the fog.

"Titan coming up from the side!" A soldier called out, seeing a large strand of hair sway up close to the formation.

"Deal with that; the rest of the formation can and will press on," Captain Dita ordered the soldiers on the eastern flank, who were in the best position to do so. Those soldiers just so happened to include Olivia, Erna and Carlin.

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers including Olivia Erna and Carlin answered, switching to their maneuverer gear.

 _Those three kids again,_ Dita mused as he noticed Olivia, Carlin and Erna respond, _they can handle themselves._

"Stay alert!" Olivia told everyone as they shot their gear, coming into contact with something which they presumed was the titan. Judging from being whished about more than the current wind speed, that was true.

A few other soldiers accompanied the three newer ones, ready to engage the Titan but reluctant to do so unless absolutely necessary in this harsh weather.

"It's going to be difficult than before..." Carlin pointed out, "There was never a time mist plagued us during training."

"I can't see for shit in this!" Erna growled out, looking around for the titan, "Show yourself!"

"Maybe we should turn back, the weather's getting too nasty..." A soldier muttered.

"Don't be such a wimp!" Erna yelled back at him, "You think they have a better sight than us?! We'll just take out this one and we'll be fine!"

A large hand from the fray grabbed a bunch of soldiers in a sudden action. Erna took that opportunity to jump onto the hand and slice the nape. But the titan already bitten off most of the cadets and the others were left frozen."

"Come on!" Carlin encouraged, "if we stay still, they'll get to us!"

"We're not that far!" Olivia added, "Just a few miles to go!"

 

 

"I hope they're alright," Luke said quietly to Dita, "this is a rough place to pick a fight with Titans."

"Indeed," Dita agreed, "if the weather gets too nasty, Erwin may have to call off the expediton."

"How many titans, were back there, Dita?" Luke asked him, to which his captain replied, "It's hard to tell, but there probably can't have been more than a few. After all, I expect we would have spotted them, even in this weather.

"If there are, however," he added grimly, "we'll need to send reinforcements down there, or face a massacre." _Erwin will have to call this off soon enough,_ Dita reasoned, _surely this weather is too hellish to conduct an expedition in. Does he hope to outride the storm?_

"See anything?" Carlin asked the two girls.

"No! This fog is getting worse!" Erna shouted, "I can only see the trees!"

Carlin looked at the trees green leaves before coming up with an idea, "What if we lure them there?"

"What?!" the soldiers exclaimed.

"Yeah! They're only coming from the side as off now!" Olivia pointed out, "If we use the trees for cover, they'll bash into them more than us!"

"That's insane!"

"Got a better one, wuss?!" Erna retorted, "I'm with ya! Let's gear through the woods!"

 

"Erwin," Darius said, riding up to his position, "what's the plan? This weather is ruining our chances of success."

"If we turn back," Erwin reasoned, "we'll have to go through this very same fog again. If we go forward, we may escape it, but we do not know how far it stretches.

"Send the Levi Squad up ahead," he ordered Darius, "they'll go forward and see what's what about the weather up there. The rest of the formation can slow down in the meantime. If this continues for a few more hundred metres, I'm not taking my chances, and neither is the Corps."

"Understood," Darius replied with a nod, riding forward to approaching Captain Levi within the formation.

 

"Lets go!"

The soldiers that were with the trio switched out of the formation and into the woods by their horses. A few titans were seen when they switched their gear among the mist, but only a few soldiers got the chomp.

The titans then began following the group through the woods, trying to keep up with them so they won't lose them to the fog.

 

Other troops had already been sent forth by Erwin to spread the word that the formation, as a whole, was to slow down. Darius made his way over to Levi, exclaiming, "Captain, you need to ride ahead for a few hundred metres and see if this fog abates. If not, then we're aborting this mission: Commander's orders."

 

Olivia, Erna and Carlin zoomed through the forest with other soldiers, using the fog as cover to hide and surprise the titans. Strangely enough, it was working. The soldiers would see a titan's head pop up from the fray before sending a few to cripple their feet and slice the nape.

"Haha!" a soldier shouted, "Bet ya didn't see that coming!"

"Not long now!" Olivia shouted, "We might get back to the formation if we can!"

 

"Sir!" a soldier told Dita, "The soldiers taking out titans from the east have headed into the woods!"

"What on earth was that for?" Dita exclaimed, "it's madness to lure titans. They should have opted to outrun them!"

"I don't know!" the soldier exclaimed.

"I know!" A young woman soldier spoke up, "They're planning on letting them walk right into the trees! I don't think they can see them either! They're using the fog for cover!"

"The titans can sense humans," Dita barked in response, "they don't need to spot them to be drawn to them. They smell, they hear, they search for us...it's reckless to go seeking them out specifically, even if you're a trained killers of those monsters.

"Should we intervene?" he asked the young woman, wondering what her judgement of the matter was.

 

"Keep moving forward!" Olivia encouraged, dodging a titan that bashed into the tree.

"Go right!" Carlin yelled at some soldiers, "You're in the clear! We'll join you soon!"

They nodded, and zoomed out of the way just as the titan lunged for them. All successfully landing o their horses back to formation as the titans that lunged caught their teeth firmly on the bark and nocking their heads against it.

 

"Well it seems to be working!" the young woman soldier called out, and laughed when the titan ended up biting just the bark, "HAHA! They're as dumb as sheep!"

"I still think that's a bit more risky than perhaps necessary," Dita replied, observing the soldiers leading the titans into trees, "but it's original, I'll give them that."

 

"I think we might be able to get back now!" A soldier yelled, "We're going off course!"

"And it looks like the storms going to loom over the woods than the settlement..." Olivia mutters, looking up at the sky.

 

"Wait for Smith's decision," Dita commanded the troops, "we're not turning back without his permission."

_By the walls, I want to, but we need to have faith in our commander._

 

"That's all of them!" Erna shouted, "Let's re-join the formation!"

And the soldiers that remained in the forest turned back to the formation, all back on their horses. The last to re-join was Olivia, who landed on top of her horse, before sitting properly on Hilda to gallop up to her friends.

"Sorry for the delay!" she apologized, with that cheerful trademark laughing smile.

"Well done, troops," Dita congratulated the troops as they returned to his part of the formation, "don't gamble with your lives like that again without prior orders, but you showed good initiative there."

"Understood, Sir!" Olivia, Erna and Carlin answered in unison, as they galloped. But after a short amount of time, they noticed something in the fog.

"Hey look!" Carlin exclaimed, "We're nearly there!"

"This expedition may still be called off," Dita warned them, "it depends on what Erwin decides."

"Screw that! We've come this far!" Erna denied, moving forward.

"Erni-" Olivia started, but referred person cut her off.

"I'm serious Oli! You'd be crushed if your _own_ hard work was for nothing!"

That was actually true...Olivia put everything into this for finding her sister's parents. To see it all worth rubbish....

"This is what makes us go forward. And I'm not going back!" Erna finished, moving her horse forward towards the town.

"Erni! Wait!" Carlin called out, letting his horse gain up speed to catch her.

* * *

"Erna! Don't let it go to your head!" Olivia shouted, being the one behind her.

The three soldiers were the first ones in town, and they currently just kept riding. Whenever there was a titan in view, they'd turn a corner until Erna activated her gear. Not wanting her to face them alone, Olivia and Carlin joined her.

Despite the danger, the three were ploughing through titans, just like their last expedition and more. However, something went wrong...horribly wrong. As a soldier went to warn them they should return to formation, he was plucked out of the air by something that definitely wasn't a limb. They weren't sure whatever it was killed the soldiers, but Olivia was finding dead soldiers at every corner.

"Sir! I think titans are hiding in every corner of the town! Cadets Dale, Everton and Schneider are in danger!" A soldier spoke out.

"It seems Erwin has decided to press on," Dita said, "the fog seems less bad in the town itself."

Squad Levi, when they had returned to Erwin, had reported that the fog did not stretch very far beyond the point from which they had ridden earlier. This meant that the mission could continue, although the Corps would be hard-pressed to win this battle.

 

"Erna!" Olivia yelled, "Slow down! You'll die before they reach us!"

"AAAAH!"

Hearing that scream, Olivia and Erna turned to see Carlin struggling with a titan.

"Carli!" Daniella yelled, about to turn around to aid him, but something else grabbed onto Olivia letting out her scream as well.

They were close to the end of the other side of the town, so there's a very sim chance aid would make it on time.

That left Erna in the middle of a dilemma.

 

The elite squads were currently busy defending the cart teams as they spread throughout the city, caching supplies in certain defensible areas. Even though the fog was less dense here, it was made the environment a harsh place to fight titans in. Olivia was struggling to free herself from the sticky flesh that looked more like a tongue than a hand, While Carlin was holding onto the teeth inside a titan.

"Erni! Pull me out!" Olivia pleaded, while Carlin was struggling to free himself.

Erna moved her head frantically before closing her eyes and made her decision...

 

_Moving to Carlin._

 

 

Olivia could only watch in horror as the tongue pulled her away, the view of Erna and Carlin becoming shrouded in the fog.  The olive eyed brown haired girl was unwillingly dragged through the air by the fleshy tongue, as soldiers coming into view were decimated by other titans.

_Why...? Why Erna...?  Just one slice and we could save Carlin...We three promised to get through this together._

 

"Look," Eld told his colleagues, heading towards a solder in danger who was a small distance a way, "do you think we have time to help her?"

"That's Olivia," Petra realised, her eyes widening in horror, "we have to!"

Getting over her shock, Olivia tried to use her bare hands to slip, unwind, anything to get out of this large tongue from a titan she cannot see due to the fog. But she was just completely stuck to the tongue like glue.

Hearing the sound of 3DMG she looked to see Squad Levi, coming to help her. Olou was the first to reach her, grabbing her hand and trying to pull her out.

"I'm stuck to this tongue like glue! Stay back! You'll get stuck too!" Olivia warned, while still trying to free herself.

"No way," he shouted, pulling even harder.

"I'm being serious, pull harder and you'll-Aaagh!"

 

Olivia after her yell grit her teeth in pain, when she felt something pop out of her socket from trying to be pulled out.

"Shit! Sorry, Olivia," Olou cried, jumping back. "I need back up over here," he shouted, drawing one of his swords. "I'll just have to cut this tongue out," he growled.

"Just be careful! I could get thrown about any second!" Olivia yelled.

And was proven right when the source of the tongue turned the corner and Olivia got grazed on the side be the corner of a building. Olou gritted his teeth and took off after her, swords extended. He made sure not to touch the tongue itself, remembering Olivia's warning about getting stuck. He slashed at it. There was a loud shriek a second after Olivia was cut free. The olive eyed female didn't land on the ground though, because the process of cutting her out sent her through the window of an abandoned house, but her reflexes barely made her touch the floor of the building and broke through the other window to join in the fight.

Petra followed Oluo, whilst Gunther and Eld braved the fog, descending towards the source of the tongue to try to kill the Titan who had Olivia in its grasp.

"Olivia!" Olou called, flying over the roof to follow her. "You ok?"

"I'm fine! Thanks!" Olivia yelled out to him, but she didn't make eye contact as she was catching up to the titan that had tried to take her with it, actually coming the one in front but made sure to stay away from the tongue.

"Is that an abmormal," Olou called, going after her. "You want some help?"

"I'll see!" Olivia shouted, heading forward. _I'm going to let that titan see me face to face..._

Olivia came close to the titan and notice it's tongue drop to ground level. When she was in the clear of the looming fog, she saw a titan's body lying close to the river. But it wasn't the tongue she looked at, but it's evaporating appearance: red irises and white hair along with it's female appearance.

 _Did someone get to it before me...?_ Olivia wondered, as she stared at it's steaming corpse.

"What the hell is with this thing," Olou said. "I've never seen this kind of titan before..."

 

Olivia stayed silent, looking at the white hair and red eyes as if they were all too familiar for some reason.

"Hey..Olivia..lets get back to the others," Olou said.

 _The others?_ Olivia gasped in realisation when she remembered two others she last saw, "Ella! Charl!"

Taking off without looking back at the titan corpse, Olivia began searching the now fading fog for the two, leaving Oluo behind.

 _Damn..she's fast,_ Olou thought, taking know last look at the disintegrating Titan corpse. He then took off after her.

"Don't go alone," Petra urged Olivia, following her on 3DMG and glancing at Oluo to check that he was doing the same.

* * *

"Erni! Carli!" Olivia called out, landing on the ground in search.

The fog had been near decimated and it was now considered an aftermath. All of the titans were gone from the town, but there was more than 8-9 bodies at every corner, completely mangled and crunched, or squished together via titan vomit.

"We really need to go," Olou said anxiously, landing beside her. He had a bad feeling.

"No...We're the only ones in this area. And there are no more titans in the town. We can't let this go unnoticed," Olivia said, turning towards the titan vomit, "even that."

Gunther and Eld landed nearby, the former of the two muttering, "What the hell? Something got to that titan before we could, but there are no other soldiers in sight. Petra, was it you?"

Petra shook her head, not completely comprehending what could have destroyed the titan in that time. After all, they were the only troops near it. _Perhaps there was some kind of accident,_ she mused, _that would be incredibly rare, but not impossible._

Mike was the next to land, saying, "Mission accomplished. We're sending in the teams to collect our fallen comrades now; the titans have been cleared from this area for the time being. You should all get back behind front lines with anyone or anything that you can carry, and await further orders."

"What is this stuff, anyway?" Olivia asked, touching the large lump with her blade.

"You don't want to know," Eld said darkly, "just ignore it."

"Why not?" Olivia asked with an innocent tilt of the head at the soldiers.

"There are some things about the titans that are worth ignoring," he said, without elaboration, "now, we'd best be retrieving what we can of our comrades, and returning. Are you with me?"

"But Hange wants to know anything about them! Why can't I?!" Olivia demanded, "What does all the dead bodies I've already seen on my first expedition even compare to this lump? You think after this I'm going to high tail out of this branch? Pardon me, but fuck no! I'm here now. And who's to say I won't come across this again? I'm not a kid! In fact, I'm older than you'd expect for my looks. But that can be saved for much longer than this."

"It's Titan throw up," Olou muttered darkly. "No use trying to retrieve comrades form it; they're all stuck together with spit and god knows what else. There's a superstition among us veterans...if you come across some and there's six visible faces in it...you're next. Course, if you're sick enough to look at it to count them...death'll come soon enough. Let's go."

"Thank you, Oluo," Olivia thanked after her sigh, "but don't use myths while doing so. I've had my fair share from my sister."

Olivia then noticed a trail of blood that lead into a group of trees. And just like the wind she took off.

Following it, she came across two bodies, both interlinked by their hands and had peaceful faces present. Olivia was surprised, but her feeling of betrayal trumps her guilt.

Some time later, she emerged from the woods to the others, a body on each side she dragged upwards as she walked forward. A neutral look was plastered on her, not looking at the heads that creepily faced each side of her.

"I think that's everyone. Let's go," she simply answered, continuing to walk...even when both of the bodies of Erna Everton and Charlie Schneider's lower half's slit from their top, flopping on the floor and entrails dangling about while the trail of blood stretches across the town's ground.

"Alright," Olou said, relived, "come one." He started walking off.

 

Petra, Gunther and Eld were awkwardly carrying bodies of their own. They'd gotten used to this by now, or as much as one could be accustomed to this process; it was only right that the fallen were respected through identification.

There were no plans to take the titan vomit back because of the impracticality of such a process; however, the bodies within it were being identified by soldiers whilst other human remains were being wrapped up and loaded onto carts. Olou was doing the same, a disgusted look on his face which effectively hid his dark mood.

Olivia, who didn't notice her once called friends' lower bodies until they were hoisted up by the cart, but could only stare down at their still joining hands rather than their peaceful faces.

Olou unceremoniously places the upper torso of a soldier in the cart and glances at Olivia. "You ok," he mutters.

"They were friends of yours, weren't they?" Petra asked Olivia gently, walking over to the cart she was standing in front of, the elite soldier's arms now empty.

"Yeah... _were_." Olivia echoed, looking down at her feet.

"It...could have been worse," Gunther tried to comfort Olivia, "they could have died alone. They seem at peace, in an odd sort of way. It's best to go out with your comrades, if at all."

"They chose _themselves_ over _me,_ " Olivia confided, nails digging into the wagon wood, leaving marks, "I put my trust in them...and they threw away for...whatever they had that I can't understand!"

"I didn't see what happened," Eld said, "but I won't pry. What I will say is this: self-interest is only human nature, so we should not be angered by it. However, 'only' is not good enough in the Corps. As long as you have faith in others, you're a better soldier than every last selfish warrior out there, even those who may be physically more skilled."

Olivia took in what was said before lifting her head with a smile, "I'm glad you came to me when others didn't. Thank you, my friends."

"It was nothing," Eld replied, smiling at Olivia when she called him a friend, "that's what we do in the Survey Corps. It's a tough life, and we have to stick together to survive."

"Move out," Darius bellowed, as the wagons, now fully loaded up, prepared to set off on the long journey back to Wall Rose.

Seeing as it was time to do go, Olivia got off of the wagon to climb onto her horse, Hilda. She took one look back to her fallen company before riding off back to Wall Rose with the others.

* * *

The long-range scouting formation, and the fact that the fog had mostly cleared by the time that the Survey Corps set off on the return journey, ensured that the soldiers got back to Wall Rose without suffering any more casualties.

However, there would be no celebrating this victory, for as the gate to civilisation was raised to let the battered troops into the lands within Wall Rose, they had already sustained enough deaths to dampen their spirits for several days to come.

Olivia, who would've normally looked after the soldiers injured on their journey didn't as she continued to ride in silence. The all too familiar negative comments from the town filled the air as her horse trotted along the pavement, as well as a few oblivious children either stars truck from the survivors being so brave or confused with the many soldiers badly hurt and dead. The cries of the sad and angry didn't help either as they rode on through the streets.

Olivia noticed a few people rush up to her side, as if they wanted answers from her...among them were family members to Erna and Carlin.

"Hey, your Olivia, yes?" an older man similar to Carlin, but without the odd colour eyes "I'm Carlin's father! My son mentioned you in his letter about you and Erna. You've been very generous to the two of them...Actually, he was bragging on about letting you be a bridesmaid for Erna! Ah, young love can't get anymore charming-"

He was interrupted by a pair of black glasses being presented to him.

"They were together at the very end." she responded.

Recognising the specs he looked at Olivia in surprise, but she was already off before the realisation sunk in.

 

Most of the soldiers were now asleep in the Survey Corps headquarters, or trying to sleep but failing due to the disturbing things they'd seen that day.

Olivia however was one of those who chose not to sleep, not that she didn't want to, because she was busy carving out those who had died like she did in her last expedition. She's been doing that ever since she got back. After coming out of the forest with a lot of wood, she just went back into her room. She skipped dinner in the process, so she wasn't in the mess hall either. Olivia was now without a room-mate due to Erna's death. Therefore, she would spend the night in solitude, whether she slept or not.

Funny...she actually began to miss her complaining about all the wood shavings from her carving. With a high death count than the last, there were a lot more of them than before. Olivia was nowhere near done with her work. She was still sitting down, surrounded by shavings, carving the dead soldiers from wood, that had that famous salute. She took a tiny break by rubbing her wrists before continuing to carve.

Gunther and Eld did not say much as they went to sleep. Whenever casualties were very high, there wasn't much worth saying; silence was perhaps one of the best types of respect that could be paid to the dead in such cases. Petra had not yet gone to bed, as she was deeply troubled by what she had seen at the end of the expedition.

Olou was feeling angsty, wandering the halls with a strange feeling of depression. _Why am I so sad_ , he thought. _I've been on so many and never been affected like this...._ Its because Olivia's sad, a voice piped up in the back of his head.

Petra noticed Oluo walking around the halls and approached him with concern on her face. _Could he be thinking the same thing as me?_ she wondered, asking Oluo in a soft tone, "What are you doing out here?"

"Walking," Olou grunted. "Why are you out here?" _Maybe she's worried about Olivia too._

 _"You know those two people in the cart, back there?"_ Petra said, the sight of them memorable due to the position they appeared to have died in.

"No," Olou says, shaking his head, "but I'm betting Olivia did, judging from her reaction."

"They were her friends," Petra sighed, "I knew them. She may be pretty badly affected, judging by how close they seemed to be."

"Do you...think we should..maybe see her," Olou mumbled.

"That is what I was thinking," Petra confirmed, "we just need to check whether she's still awake or not. She might be having a few sleepless nights - everyone does after their first few missions - and we should do what we can to help her with those."

"Maybe she wants to be alone," Olou said quietly, already knowing that he didn't believe the statement. His started moving in the direction of her room.

"Maybe we ought to check and ask her first," Petra replied, knocking on the door.

But the owner of the room didn't hear the knock on the door, but it was unlocked. She didn't have the consciousness to do so. So basically it was whether to open or not. After all, you can see fully behind closed doors. Petra paused outside the door for a reply, but it was not forthcoming. She stood quietly, humming as she considered opening it anyway or leaving Olivia in solitude and rocking backwards and forwards on the balls of her feet quietly. It was clear that she was not sure what to do yet.

Olou hesitantly placed his hand on the doorknob, then pulled open the door slowly, "Uh...Olivia?"

 

Just as the door opened, the pile of shavings that was near the door collapsed. Small curls of bark were scurrying off on the stone flooring and out into the hallway effortlessly, but in the process revealed a solemn expressional Olivia, scraping her knife on the wood to make another one of the fallen. Petra coughed as the shavings fell onto her for a moment, the dust now covering her head in patches making a very odd contrast with her ginger hair. Olou sputtered and coughed at the release of sawdust into the air.

"Hey, Olivia," he said quietly tentatively.

"Olivia," she said in a quiet voice, recognising what she was doing instantly, "are you ok? You should rest for now...leave them until the morning."

Still no response...

Olivia was almost like a machine. She carved until the soldiers looked identical to what they were in life before moving onto the last ones finally...which so happened to be Erna and Carlin, who were the most difficult to carve for her.

"Uh...Olivia," Olou said, slightly louder, stepping into the room.

"You've been here all night, haven't you?" Petra guessed aloud, stepping into the room and saying, "Get some rest, Olivia. They're dead, and nothing we do can bring them back. All we can do is honour their memory, and hope to see them again on the other side."

She was sceptical as to whether this place actually existed, but Petra knew it provided hope for some soldiers.

That was when things got bad for her. Even with the shape becoming like the real deal, Olivia found herself being pierced by the tip of her carving knife. Her hands were trickling with blood, and had covered the lower part of the wooden figures of Erna and Carlin. Despite that...there was no recoil or flinch; no pain present in her eyes. Just her knife scraping the surface of the wood flake by flake.

"Enough," Petra said, her eyes blazing with newfound determination as she saw that Olivia had hurt herself. She stepped up to the carvings, requesting, "stop hurting yourself, Olivia."

"Okay...uh...Olivia...can you please answer," OLOU said, a worried tone creeping into his voice. He stepped closer to her, reaching a tentative hand out. _Please let her be ok..._

 

It wasn't until she finally finished the last carving did her carving knife fall to the ground. Her eyes now staring blankly at the blood that seeped from her cuts.

"I'm getting some bandages," Petra murmured quietly to Oluo as she turned on her heel and left the room with five parting words, "you look after her, okay?"

Olou knelt beside Olivia, taking a hanker chief to clean her hand while saying her name softly. It was later when Petra came back Olivia finally had recovered her voice, "...I still can't believe it. They broke our promise for something they only had with each other...And I find it surprising my hands had the decency to carve them."

"Well," Olou started, his mouth dry and voice nervous, "you uh...I um...they..."

What happened?" Petra asked gently as she wrapped bandages around Olivia's wounds, visibly relieved to hear her speak before explaining, "I didn't see."

"Erni didn't want to turn back like the other soldiers, and wanted to take matters into her own hands," Olivia explained, "I tried to reason with her, but she said I'd be gutted if my attempts to find my sister's family by getting stronger and rising up the ranks were for nothing as well. I ended up going ahead with her and Carli. We cleared up most of the titans before the others arrived, but Carli got caught by one. Then that titan with a long tongue got me as well. I could've been free with one swipe and aided her! But instead, she chose him first... and all I could do was get dragged away."

"These choices...they're always difficult," Petra sighed, "in the end, no-one can know what an outcome will be. She probably chose the outcome shed regret least. If Erna had freed Carlin, couldn't he have helped you in the same way that you could have helped him?"

Olivia shook her head, "I doubt it. He was close to getting eaten. But I was nowhere near bad! One swipe and we could've lived on together! WE PROMISED! And I hate breaking promises! I..."

"I understand," Petra said, placing her hand over Olivia's own, "but you must try to empathise with Erna. I am aware that she shared a bond of sorts with Carlin, and if she saw her loved one in the jaws of death, can we really blame her for trying to save him, even if that meant sacrificing a much better chance of helping you?

"I'm not saying that what she did was right," Petra reasoned, "but perhaps it was all that was left to her. Could she have lived with herself if she'd let Carlin die?"

Olivia's eyebrows furrowed, "But there were others here for her...Even after her parents...Others were in the walls waiting for them."

"In the heat of the moment," Petra realised, "she might not have been thinking straight. It's healthy to see the best in people if you can, Olivia, even if they're dead."

"If you don't, things like this may happen a lot more frequently," she warned the less experienced soldier, glancing at the wood shavings as she did so. Olivia looked at the shavings as well in silence.

"Why don't you get some sleep on this?" Petra suggested, "you can think this over tomorrow."

"...If I think this over, I'll just be stuck in the past," Olivia mutters out, but sighs and spoke more properly, "but...I'll sleep. I'll be fine later on."

"Very well," Petra replied, standing up as she did so, "get some rest, Olivia. You'll need it. Training starts tomorrow, and it waits for nobody."

"Okay...Night, Petra. Night, Oluo," Olivia responded, getting into the top bunk where Erna once was, due to the pile of shavings.

"See you tomorrow in training," Petra said, her voice infused with a hint of doubt as she wasn't sure what sort of emotional state Olivia was in.

She left the room soon afterwards, the morbid feeling within it having chilled her to the bone. Olou left with a tentative hug before scurrying out of the room. He really was no help in those situations.

Olivia accepted the hug from Oluo, and watched him leave. After they did, she recorded everything that happened that day, just like she had been. Her eyes, that were wants hollow, were filled with determination blazing through those irises.

_I have to be fine... I can't breakdown while I still have a promise to keep to Gwen!_

 


End file.
